Bøker i Elinor Wonders Why-serien

Elinor learns how plants survive in a hot and dry climate in this fourth picture book based on the popular TV series. Elinor loves making her famous backyard soup for her friends and parents. It’s made with vegetables from her garden: peas, potatoes, cauliflower, carrots and radishes. Everyone loves it! So when Elinor visits her grandparents in Desert Town, she decides to make backyard soup for them, too. But when she goes to collect the ingredients from her grandparents’ garden, Elinor doesn’t see any of the usual vegetables. Instead, she finds peppers, beans, squash and even cacti! Why don’t the vegetables that grow in her garden grow in Desert Town? Elinor’s inquisitiveness leads her to discover how different types of plants grow in different climates. Using observation and exploration, and by making connections, Elinor learns about desert plants and their needs. This book is a perfect accompaniment to elementary lessons on plants and the many environments they grow in. Its entertaining story and endearing animal characters encourage curiosity and teach scientific skills. It’s part of the picture book series based on the hit PBS KIDS TV show Elinor Wonders Why, created and produced by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson and nominated for two Daytime Emmys. Back matter features science facts, a key vocabulary word and a fun activity.

Elinor and her friends investigate why they’ve never seen a baby butterfly, in this third picture book based on the popular TV series. On an outing to the park, Elinor, Ari and Olive can’t decide whether they should watch butterflies (Ari’s favorite) or caterpillars (Olive’s favorite). This makes Elinor wonder: Why has she never seen a baby butterfly? They should try finding some in the park! When they search, however, the butterflies they observe fluttering around the plants and flowers are all grown-ups - no babies. But then, they spot a cocoon and as they watch, something unusual happens! If they pay close attention and do a bit of deducing, will they be able to solve the mystery of the missing baby butterflies? (And discover how Olive’s and Ari’s favorite animals are connected?) Butterflies and their metamorphosis are perennially popular topics for young children just learning how life cycles work. Beginning with the idea of a baby butterfly provides a fresh approach to the subject. As with the other titles in this series - based on the daytime Emmy–nominated PBS KIDS TV show Elinor Wonders Why created by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson - Elinor and her friends follow their curiosity and work together to solve a science mystery, learning new things and having fun doing it. Material supporting the topic includes more facts about metamorphosis, a key vocabulary word, and a simple activity. This title has excellent life science curriculum connections to insects, characteristics of living things and habitats.

"Ari arrives at school eager to show off his cool new watch. But Elinor is more interested in the watch's strap than in keeping time (or paying attention in class!). One side of the strap is fuzzy and one side is scratchy, and somehow the two parts stick together. How does it work? She has to learn more about this fascinating fastener! Elinor enlists the help of Ari and Olive to get to the bottom of this sticky mystery. During recess, they test out the watch's scratchy patch to see what else it sticks to, but after many attempts, they only have a couple items on their list. A walk through the schoolyard provides more opportunities to experiment ... and leads to a breakthrough. When Elinor tugs at a little spiky burr that gets stuck to Ari's shirt, it makes the same skkrrrtch sound as the watch strap when its pulled apart! The trio put their heads together and figure out that the strap and burr work in the same way: by using tiny hooks to latch on to a fuzzy surface. Nature has some great ideas! Curious minds will be hooked as Elinor, Olive and Ari unravel another mystery of science and nature. By following their curiosity, making observations and creating connections, the three friends work together to learn something new about how the world works -- and have fun while they're at it! The back matter includes more fun facts about other inventions inspired by nature, a key vocabulary word and a simple activity for young scientists to explore further."--

"Elinor and her friends become plant detectives in this first Elinor Wonders Why picture book! When Elinor and Olive check on their class plants before leaving school for the weekend, everything looks good. But when the friends get back on Monday, they discover one of the plants has grown in a zigzag - up, then to the side, then up again. Their teacher said most plants only grow up, toward the sun. So, what happened to this one? Could it have something to do with how Ari knocked into the table - and shook the plants - when practicing his backflips? Science sleuths will love following the plant clues that grow right before their eyes!"--Provided by publisher.

Elinor and her friends look to nature to solve a squishy problem. Elinor, Ari and Olive want to bring a cupcake to school to give to Ms. Mole for her birthday. But the last time Olive brought a cupcake, it got squished in her book bag. So Elinor and her friends need to figure out how to stop the squish and get the cupcake safely to school. They notice some animals, such as turtles and armadillos, are protected by hard shells. Coconuts are, too. Hmm, has this given Elinor a perfect idea for transporting Ms. Mole's cupcake? Saved by the shell! Kids will be cheering for the friends' ingenuity - and their cupcake!

Elinor learns about butterflies as she makes her costume for Insect Day. Elinor knows just what type of insect she's going to be for Insect Day: a butterfly! She knows a lot about butterflies. She plans how she'll make her costume, with her dad's help: cutting cardboard, painting the wings and gluing the parts together. But there's something she needs to find out first. She knows butterflies have two antennae and four wings. But how many legs do they have? Luckily, Elinor is a pro at making observations. With her magnifying glass in hand, she goes to the garden in search of answers - and finds some new questions along the way! Insects are intriguing when it's Elinor doing the explaining!