A Compelling CARBON Story: From Bam! to Burp!

 For anyone unfamiliar with Melissa Stewart, I urge you to check out some of my past posts HERE, HERE, HERE and click her name to check her website and her other amazing nonfiction books. Among those who read nonfiction picture books, she is an icon of excellence. For those who write (and teach with) nonfiction picture books, she is a generous and highly inspiring guide to the many aspects and uses and purposes of these materials. The back matter in each of her books make for informative and expansive reading, too, including diagrams, definitions, further examples, guides to inquiry, and usually an author note. All of these are rendered with appealing language and with colorful illustrations that serve as kid-magnets for further exploration. 

CHARLESBRIDGE, 2025

That sets a high bar, for Stewart, her various illustrators and publishers, too. She does not disappoint, and that's especially true in the case of FROM BAM! TO BURP! A Carbon Atom's Never-Ending Journey Through Space and Time and YOU! The little Carbon atom with big eyes is the star of a very active and time-spanning story, one that is the result of a student's question during an author visit in 2016. (Reading author notes and  illustrator notes can reveal so MANY rich insights like that one!)

Melissa's career in nonfiction means she has the answers to nearly anything that might be asked. Often, that is. But in this case a third-grader's curiosity about a stated fact left her wondering about the answers. Carbon is, of course, the building block of life on our planet., With its team of two OXYGEN atoms, CO2, is pictured appealingly by illustrator Marta Álvarez Miguéns, and CARBON stars on every page, as it should. 

Stewart's scientific statement was that we are all made of carbon atoms, and those same atoms could have been part of a dinosaur living on the other side of Earth 150 million years ago! The How? Where? When? inquiry from that curious young listener left Melissa wondering, too. That resulted in this action-packed, fast-moving, jaw-dropping story the role of CARBON in life as we know it. 

The end papers hint that CARBON can hide among many molecules, and the first spreads make sure that even quite young readers/learners can picture the variety of ways those carbon molecules move throughout time and space. Without tracing here the amazing arrival and journeys of carbon atoms on our planet step by step, I can't resist mentioning that about 4.5 billion years ago, "Old Earth" was smacked (BAM!) by another planet. That led to CARBON becoming part of our planet while the remnants of that early crashing planet coalesced into what we now know as our moon! That alone is a massive story that is effectively told in two spreads, grounding the story of Earth's layers and eventual evolution. The combination of a CARBON atom with two oxygen atoms makes it possible for CO2 to travel the global wind ways, for plants to develop photosynthesis, for dinosaurs to eat those carbon-filled leaves, and on through page-turning times and places and pancakes. That kids eat! And anyone who has ever burped knows that the next step in a CO2 journey could well be a burp! 

The entire story makes such clear sense that I raced through it to find and absorb the connections and impacts of the never-ending story of CARBON. Then, I immediately went back through the book again, examining the bright and expanding illustrations and digesting the clarity of CARBON's role in life. That has been an abstract nugget of science info for many decades of my life, but this gem of a book truly made that fact come alive. 

Stewart also offers back pages of more "Wonders", such as the ones posed by that curious kiddo during an author talk. That is followed by facing pages with a text descriptor and a scientific drawing of the CARBON CYCLE, and a page of excellent resources to discover more and to confirm that this remarkable story is accurate and verifiable. The author note is accompanied by an illustrator note, indicating that her collaboration with Stewart made her efforts more effective and successful. 

As I said above, each new offering Stewart releases meets and exceeds the standards of the best of the best in nonfiction picture books. This is one whose origin story is a powerhouse to share with kids. Stories, including nonfiction ones, begin with curiosity and questions! What a fine example of taking that inquiry to research and then write. Priceless. 

Two Information Picture Books - from Two Angles

 I've started gathering some nonfiction picture books to consider from 2023. First, though, I remind readers that fiction picture books are superb sources for learning about the world. Please don't dismiss that statement as applying only to tots and kiddos! Many fiction titles provide intentional, incredible amounts of reliable information about fascinating topics, including STEM subjects.  Picture book editors and fact checkers are unrelenting in crosschecking to assure the latest and most accurate content for those young minds. Authors rely on MANY sources, providing useful author notes and resources in back matter, including safe online links.

G. P. Putnam and Sons, 2023

The first book I'm loving is a great example of incredible care in research and writing. Author Scanlon is a master of using facts within a fiction picture book, especially with lyrical rhymed text. (See some recent posts of other titles by Scanlon). In this case, she includes information about wolf pups and packs in a picture book written and illustrated with delightful charm and appeal. FULL MOON PUPS is written by Liz Garton Scanlon, delightfully illustrated by Chuck Groenink.

Once again, the opening and closing end paper illustrations provided a visual synopsis of what to expect. Both spreads feature wolf, helping even youngest readers sense the changes of time with the initial scene featuring a single adult wolf moving through misty mountainsides under a left-of-page full moon. The final endpapers feature the same evocative background, but the full moon has reoriented to a right-of-page location, subtly suggesting that months have passed. In the lower foreground, what appears to be that same wolf is trailed through the night by five wolf pups, maturing into the next learning phase of their lives.

Lyrical excellence inspired the illustrator to such detail-packed images that support even the youngest audiences in understanding of longer time passages and actual wolf pack/pup development/behaviors within this particular fictional example. Scanlon's straightforward, expansive, themed text draws attention to transitions among the new littermates, the changing landscape, and the pups themselves. The author's note and brief information about the phases of the moon augment this fact-packed fiction offering.

Candlewick Press, 2023

The second title also moves readers through a particular time period and setting, focusing instead on the survival and developmental stages of an amphibian. Treefrogs are certainly a species with visual appeal but is far from cuddly, to most of us. ONE TINY TREEFROG : A Countdown to Survival is a vibrant and revealing creation from Tony PIedra and Mackenzie Joy 

The word choices in this simple, count-down-from-ten text are vivid, energetic, and wonderfully descriptive. I'd go so far as to say smile-inducing. The subject of this book, the truly TINY treefrog, is portrayed on oversized, nature-hued pages as ten egg/tadpoles progress through their growth cycle while diminishing in number. Each page reveals threatening habitat or predator that reduces their likelihood of survival. Fear not, though, that the eventual arrival of ZERO means none survive. The conclusion is, in fact, exciting and very satisfying. 

The countdown text is in large, bold font while tiny text labels various living things on each spread with its common name and scientific designation. Brief back matter includes directly addressing the treefrog's  life cycle patterns, the specific habitat (in lowland wet forests of Costa Rica), and a lovely spread of that setting within which the thirteen other named creatures are pictured, circled, and numbered along side a numbered naming list. This poses a seek-and-find challenge that drips with learning potential and sparks close observation. That back matter spread is followed by the concluding double spread that provides spotlight images from the eleven counting page stages and stars, including briefly extended details about each. 

Animal life and wildlife settings provide endless appeal across many ages. Whether the young ones you know are traveling to such places or spending summer on STAY-cations, these two titles are first class tickets to explore, experience, and learn about them.