Baby Loves Angular Momentum on Hanukkah!

by Ruth Spiro, Irene Chan (Illustrator)

Overview

The perfect Hanukkah gift for babies and toddlers, complete with big, brainy science for the littlest listeners.

Baby discovers the science behind spinning a dreidel on Hanukkah! Accurate enough to satisfy an expert, yet simple enough for baby, this clever board book explores angular momentum, torque, friction, and gravity. Beautiful, visually stimulating illustrations complement age-appropriate language to encourage baby's sense of wonder. Parents and caregivers may learn a thing or two as well.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623541903
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	08/24/2021
Series:	Baby Loves Science Series
Pages:	20
Sales rank:	393,002
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 7.06(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Ruth Spiro is an award-winning children's book author and freelance writer whose articles, essays, and stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies. Her debut picture book, Lester Fizz, Bubble-Gum Artist (Dutton), won awards from Writer's Digest and Willamette Writers and was a Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year.

Irene Chan enjoys making beautiful things. She is an art director, designer, artist, amateur photographer, and illustrator.

Editorial Reviews

After a brief explanation of the holiday of Hanukkah, simple text explains that torque makes the dreidel spin and that the spinning dreidel has angular momentum. "That means it spins and spins instead of falling over. The spinning dreidel hits tiny molecules in the air. That creates friction. The point of the dreidel rubs against the table. That creates friction, too. Friction slows the dreidel down. As the dreidel spins slower, it loses angular momentum. Gravity makes it tilt and wobble. Gravity pulls the dreidel down. Clunk!" The book continues with the rules of the game and other ways that families celebrate the holiday, ending with: "Not all Baby's friends celebrate Hanukkah. . . but they can spin the dreidel. Baby loves Hanukkah!" Adorable, vibrant cartoon illustrations feature round-faced and wide-eyed toddlers with various skin and hair colors though "Baby" is white and sports a blue kippah. Green energy, coding, quantum physics, and thermodynamics are just some of the topics addressed in this cute, accessible "Baby Loves Science" board book series that will also include Baby Loves Electrical Engineering on Christmas! and Baby Loves Photosynthesis on St. Patrick's Day!. Here's hoping that more Jewish holidays will be added in the future!
—AJL News & Reviews


These bright, vividly illustrated board books use Christmas and Hanukkah to explain scientific concepts. In Baby Loves Electrical Engineering on Christmas, a baby explores the world of twinkling lights around her, starting with the Christmas tree. “What makes the lights blink and twinkle? Electricity!” The story then launches into an appropriately simplified explanation of atoms, electrons, circuits, and electrical energy. In Baby Loves Angular Momentum on Hanukkah, the spinning dreidel is used as an example of torque and angular momentum. A basic description of how the game is played as well as why Hanukkah is celebrated blends nicely with the scientific topics. These high concept board books offer a unique angle on the traditional Christmas/Hanukkah book, with succinct explanations of the holidays and the scientific concepts they highlight. Chan’s rich colors and happy faces offer the warm familiarity of family holidays as well as simple visual representations of the themes. VERDICT Recommended in library collections where board books are popular and where holiday books are in demand.
—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

11/01/2021

Baby-Toddler—These bright, vividly illustrated board books use Christmas and Hanukkah to explain scientific concepts. In Baby Loves Electrical Engineering on Christmas, a baby explores the world of twinkling lights around her, starting with the Christmas tree. "What makes the lights blink and twinkle? Electricity!" The story then launches into an appropriately simplified explanation of atoms, electrons, circuits, and electrical energy. In Baby Loves Angular Momentum on Hanukkah, the spinning dreidel is used as an example of torque and angular momentum. A basic description of how the game is played as well as why Hanukkah is celebrated blends nicely with the scientific topics. These high concept board books offer a unique angle on the traditional Christmas/Hanukkah book, with succinct explanations of the holidays and the scientific concepts they highlight. Chan's rich colors and happy faces offer the warm familiarity of family holidays as well as simple visual representations of the themes. VERDICT Recommended in library collections where board books are popular and where holiday books are in demand.—Kristy Pasquariello, Westwood P.L., MA

School Library Journal

2021-08-31
A kippah-wearing tot celebrates Hanukkah and learns the science behind spinning dreidels.

A White-presenting child with dark brown hair puts toy candles in a menorah and spins a dreidel with a young friend with medium brown skin and light brown hair. The simple text and illustrations go on to explain torque, angular momentum, and friction to elucidate how a dreidel spins upright before eventually falling over. The companion title, Electrical Engineering on Christmas! follows a similar formula. A baby with light brown skin and wavy, brown hair learns how a Christmas tree lights up via electricity, how an atom carries an electrical charge, where electricity can be found naturally, how a circuit is formed, and how people make electricity. A few holiday tidbits are shared in both offerings, as each kid guest stars in the companion title, with the welcome reminder that not everyone celebrates Christmas. Chan’s art, like others in the Baby Loves Science series, does an admirable job of illustrating the science and looking inviting and playful in bright jewel tones. While the concepts are clearly explained and will work well for a preschool and early-elementary audience, many of the abstract ideas, particularly atomic theory and friction, may be a bit much for the putative baby audience.

Babies will enjoy turning the holiday-festooned pages, but will they get the science? (Board book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews