Gift it! Never Too Young to be a Scientist

You can probably tell by the title, 11 Experiments That Failed ($16.99, Schwartz and Wade Books, ages 4 and up) that this is a unique sort of science book. Author Jenny Offill put together 11 simple, fun and educational science experiments that are meant to go wrong. Each experiment includes a question, a hypothesis and a list of what you’ll need, of course.

Any budding scientist will get a kick out of learning what makes fungus grow, whether or not a gerbil prefers a bigger wheel or what happens when a live beaver is ordered through the mail. Each experiment is supported by fun illustrations by Nancy Carpenter, and the most likely results of each project are listed.

As a parent of a college science major (geology) I can personally relate to children’s science experiment books; my daughter could never get enough of these while growing up. We sure did have a lot of fun doing experiments together. The holidays are perfect time to receive science books as gifts, and this one in particular is a winner.