Review: What's Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew?

The book opens describing the size of a pygmy shrew relative to an elephant, then relative to a ladybug, and proceeds smaller and smaller, each smaller item compared to a new even smaller item down to atoms, quarks and electrons. The book wraps up by describing how everything in the entire universe is made up of atoms. This book dovetails nicely, by the way, with another of this author's books, Is a Blue Whale the Biggest Thing There Is?.

Suggested age range for this book is 4-8 yrs. I used this with boys ages 8 and 5. The 5yo grasped some of the concepts, but really a lot of it was over his head as he could just not grasp it totally. The 8yo was much more enthralled with the whole idea, having used a microscope before and really understanding it better. It is one of the most user friendly books I have found though to put it in a true real world perspective, as most science texts simply start with what an atom is without really trying to explain how incredibly tiny that is.

We thoroughly enjoyed this book, even mom as a refresher, before starting in on our basic chemistry textbook for my 3rd grader. :) My kindergartener will stop here with this brief intro, and is enjoying paging through the pictures again and again.

And, by the way, I'm not paid at all for my review. I am just sharing a book we liked! :)