BUZZING WITH QUESTIONS: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner- A Picture Book Review and Giveaway

 I received a record number of comments on last week's blog. Congratulations to Danielle Hammelef for winning GRANDDADDY'S STORIES.

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At the moment I am studying picture book biographies, with the hope of writing one or two myself. That means you will meet some notable dreamers, scientists, and artists through the words of talented authors and illustrators. Buzzing with Questions (Calkins Creek, 2019) written by poet, author, and creative writing instructor, Janice Harrington, is the story of Charles Henry Turner, a 19th-century scientist. Vivid, joyful illustrations by Theodore Taylor III bring Charles' quest for understanding the natural world accessible to young readers. 

REVIEW

Without a doubt, Charles was a boy with questions.

His teacher encouraged him to search for his answers. And that's exactly what he did. After finishing high school, Charles Henry Turner did what very few African Americans did in 1886 -- he went to college. 

He was the only brown-skinned man in the class and his white professor was worried about how he would be received. But the other students enjoyed the company of their fellow hard-working student.

Charles spent hours "peering through microscopes, planning experiments, gathering specimens, keeping records, drawing charts, ad reading scientific papers." His curiosity knew no limits.

• Could spiders learn, or were they only weaving machines that made the same web over and over?
• How did ants find their way home? Did the sun guide them? Did they follow a trail? 

Searching for answers led to devising experiments. Which led to more information and more discoveries.

Along with his high school students, Charles investigated bee behavior. First, they fed them at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When they only set out jam at breakfast, the bees still buzzed and circled at other meal times. From that, they deduced that bees had a sense of time.  

Bees, giant water bugs, whirligig beetles, dragonfly nymphs, water striders, paper wasps, hornets, or tent caterpillars. Charles studied them all.

....

His mazes, spider jars, paper circles, and cardboard stages toppled old ideas about insects. He never stopped inventing new ways to study the smallest creatures, searching for new ideas, or asking new questions.

Despite facing racial prejudice, Charles became an integral part of his St. Louis community. He hoped that by studying biology, people could see the connections between all living things. 

Charles Henry Turner, the boy whose teacher urged him "to go and find out," grew into a teacher himself, a devoted scholar who taught students to look closely, to find the webs that connect us all, and--just as he did--to fill the world with questions, questions, questions. 

BACK MATTER

Resources at the back of the book include why Ms. Harrrington wrote this book, a timeline, and other resources.  It is a great curriculum resource for Kindergarten-third grade classrooms and STEM book. 

For a Buzzing with Questions read aloud, watch this:

For another great video about Charles Turner's experiments, watch this:

GIVEAWAY

Please leave a comment along with your email address by 6 PM on February 6. It's a great addition to your classroom or home library.