Elinor Wonders Why: Forest Giants

Just how tall can a tree grow? And why don’t the biggest ones topple over? Elinor and her friends figure it out!

It’s field trip day! Elinor, Olive and Ari are going with their class to see some of the tallest trees in the world: giant sequoias. The friends are pretty sure the sequoias will be bigger than the trees in their neighborhood. But they never expect what they find when they walk deep into the forest and stand beside one of the largest of these giants! They can’t even see the top! How tall is this tree? How does it grow so high and so straight? And why is its trunk so wide? The friends look for clues to solve the sequoia’s mysteries — and learn that trees and block towers have some things in common!

This fun early reader graphic novel is from a series based on the Emmy-nominated PBS Kids TV show Elinor Wonders Why, created by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. It encourages young children to be curious about the world around them, and to use science skills to help them figure things out. In this story, readers are introduced to physical science topics, including structures and stability, and life science topics such as plant habitats and the needs of living things. A step-by-step activity teaches a simple method for measuring the height of a tree. Sidebars throughout contain easy-to-digest science facts and key vocabulary words’ meanings and pronunciations. The cheerful pages filled with brightly colored art and limited text make this a great series for introducing young readers to graphic novels.