Sierra, Judy. The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate the School. Illustrated by Stephen Gammell. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2006.
Many schools hold annual Science Fairs. The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate the School would be a great picture book read aloud for the time leading up to the fair. Judy Sierra has a good handle on what would interest kids. This is one of my favorites that I read at the end of every school year – during the last library visit – and my students love it!
The main character doesn’t know what to do for a science fair project. All of her classmates have cool projects but she doesn’t have a clue. So she researches on the internet and finds a project guaranteed to win first prize. Unfortunately, her project has a mind of its own and it eats everything in sight; until she remembers to feed it sugar. It then explodes and everything it has eaten re-appears – just the kind of grossness kids love.
Judy Sierra effectively uses rhyme to tell the story. Stephen Gammell’s illustrations are brightly colored, created with watercolor, colored pencils, and pastels. They illustrate the text well, giving non-readers something to look at while listening to the story.
The Secret Science Project That Almost Ate the School (Paula Wiseman Books)
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