I started with another idea, not just the four mentioned in two previous blog posts. At least two science teachers I’ve spoken with mentioned how little informational reading students got in school. That made me think that perhaps children may not have enough access to science related reading, specifically for fun reading outside of schoolwork.

Organizations that provide books to young children

I knew there were organizations like Reading is Fundamental (RIF) and First Book that specialized in getting books into the hands of young children. My thought at the time was that most of the books were probably fiction that did not incorporate science concepts.

I contacted RIF and asked about their content—the set of books available for children. I was careful at the start of the conversation that I was not calling to demand they ban any titles—that I was about more reading, not less. They told me they provide their books through organizations like schools, and that the schools chose from a catalog of books offered by Scholastic, Inc. They even gave me access to the Scholastic site.

Science books: found!

There were plenty of science related books, both fiction and non-fiction, on that site. I dug a little deeper, though, and asked how often, relative to other genres/book types, science-related books were requested by schools and others. While I did not get actual data, the answer was, anecdotally, at least once or twice a day. I did similar research through the First Book website and found similar books.

That’s the good news. Young children have access to these science books through their schools. If they are not getting enough science education, it isn’t because these books are not available.

I am thrilled that RIF, First Book and Scholastic, Inc. do what they do. Now I need to support that science learning with the other activities I have planned.