Bird Builds a Nest by Martin Jenkins illustrated by Richard Jones

The preamble to this book says:

"This is a book about forces. A force is something that makes an object move, stop moving or change direction. We can apply a force by pushing or pulling."

Bird needs to pull a worm up from under the soil. "When you pull something you are applying a force towards you."

Now that she has had her worm Bird needs to build her nest. "The more something weighs, the more force you need to lift it."

Using push and pull Bird completes her nest - pushing a twig into the side and pulling it through. Oh no she has dropped a twig.

"Things fall to the ground because of a force called gravity."

Confession time. I studied physics in senior high school and nearly every part of the subject puzzled me. I almost failed the final exam even though I had a personal tutor employed by my parents. If I had seen this book as a young child I think some of the concepts of physics may have been less confusing. This is a brilliant book and one that you should consider adding to your school or preschool library. The paperback edition of this book has been published and it is a very good price at AUS$17. Here is a review by Dr Sam Lloyd (Children's Books Daily). Here is the website for Richard Jones and some books my Martin Jenkins:

There are three books in the Science Storybook series: