The author, Mary Daly, explains her book and purposes in this overview.

I have long had a concern about the teaching of science. Most of the materials on the market are so scattered that I cannot think that children will have a clear concept of the meaning and value of science, nor any feeling that they can master its contents in any way. Indeed, most texts are centered on defining science as the product of a specific "method" of thought which has to do with hypotheses and experiments and records and reports. Boring ...and not at all the way Einstein or anybody else I know of actually operated.

Anyway, Natural Science was born in response to the command in Genesis: "Increase and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it." We cannot subdue – or exert stewardship – over what we do not understand. Science is about understanding the material world, our very exciting and beautiful home. In the spring of 2000, members of the local homeschool support group met for a week's science camp, and the next two years, followed up with weekly (almost weekly) science lessons.

The principle of organization is to understand the magnitudes – the sizes – of things and how their scale limits what they can be and do. A star, for example, cannot be much smaller than our sun – except by being fantastically dense – because the nature of stars requires that their gravity bring about their burning. A fly doesn't have enough gravity to burn that way. The planet Jupiter has almost enough.

With the curriculum organized around magnitudes, we had a principle of order for the relationships between all the disciplines of natural science, and as our body of knowledge increased, it was always interactive with previous information. Furthermore, there are only 45 magnitudes between the quark and the universe; this is a small enough number for any child to comprehend. He can finish the course feeling that he knows the universe – and why not? It is his home.

The science camp material is now available, suitable for a camp, or a semester, or up to a year for a small child. It includes:

1. A booklet about the 45 orders of magnitude – sorted by powers of ten – which form the universe as far as we know it. The booklet goes very slowly through the nine orders readily recognizable to ordinary sight – from a meter down to a tenth of a millimeter, and then up to ten kilometers. (It is really essential to use metric measure for this exercise. It is not assumed that the student already knows it.)

2. A set of 45 cardstock dividers, numbered and color-coded, one for each order of magnitude. These are to be placed in a notebook and materials collected illustrating objects at each magnitude are to be placed in each section by the student. These materials can be pasted pictures, drawings, reports, web printouts – whatever best represents what the student has considered at that order of magnitude, and according to his level of comprehension.

The color-coding of the dividers has to do with the fact that the smallest things we consider – electrons and protons, are studied in physics. The next smallest – molecules – are the study of chemistry. Then biology, with green dividers, and so forth.

I will be working to get the following year's lessons into print. They strengthen the magnitudes theme by taking various objects and explaining their characteristics, always in relationship to the orders of magnitude that shape them. Of course the lessons were printed at the time for my students, but not always in a well-finished form...

I found this in our library's seasonal display... copyright 1992, certainly not a new title, but my love for alphabet books and vegetables together made me decide to take a look.

Product description: Bestselling author Jerry Pallotta teams up with former Victory Garden host Bob Thomson to present 26 common and not-so-common vegetables. Learn about fiddleheads, munchkin pumpkins, sweet peas, walla wallas, and more. This informative book also includes a brief introduction to soil preparation and seed planting. 30 color illustrations.

These times of economic slump and contaminated foods from doubtful origins is seeing a huge growth in home gardening. I have seen this new trend being referred to as "Victory Gardens" all over again. This is a nice and informative book for children, most especially children whose parents want to encourage to get out there and help! The illustrations are very realistic and seem to be based on photos.

This kit provides dozens of special cardboard pieces, wooden dowels string, wheels, etc. for making simple machines (inclined planes, scales, etc.) that can be used for understanding basic concepts of mechanics – how things work. Based upon the bestselling "The Way Things Work" by David Macaulay, the kit continues the theme of Wooly Mammoths as props and characters for use in these experiments. (Included in the kit are two cardboard Wooly Mammoths to which you affix a certain number of identical coins to provide a common weight for some of the experiments.) A thin, but colorful book (32 pages – glossy cover) takes you through the scientific explanations of the various principles involved in the experiments. 5 1/2 " x 8 1/2" glossy full color cards provide detailed step-by-step instructions (with the typical DK photos) for each experiment.

Although some of the experiments took a little more finesse than might have been expected (but understandable due to the limitations of the materials) and some of the instruction cards were a little hard to follow, overall we found this to be an exceptional value – a lot of bang for your buck at the $30 retail price. We found that a dozen or so ziploc bags were very helpful in keeping the various pieces straight and, with a little patience, all the pieces can be stored in the box.

The biggest hit in our family so far was the Pinball Science CD ROM which also came with the kit. The game includes three pinball arenas each having a specific theme (village, island and moon). The science part involves answering questions in order to earn the right to place certain fixtures on each pinball game. Without the fixtures, scores are lower and players are unable to advance to the next level. With each question, the player has the option to "Research Answer". This feature takes the player to the appropriate page in an interesting, humorous and interactive log book which explains the functioning of various devices such as windmills, faucets, hot-air balloons, gears, and rockets. Some of the graphics are a little silly (Wooly Mammoths in bikinis on the island and such), but I didn't find anything really objectionable.

I have to be perfectly honest. I didn't expect to like this book. The idea of an overtly Catholic fantasy-adventure story trying to make it's way into the genre dominated by Harry Potter? Well... I skeptically picked up the book and read four or five chapters the night it arrived in the mail. It seemed interesting but things didn't seem to be making much sense yet. I picked it up again the next day and the plot thickened. A few more chapters and I was hooked. At about 10 pm I was planning on putting the book down to get ready for bed (no it didn't take me all day to read it - I do have five children!), but I decided on a quick sandwich first and, naturally, a little more of the story. Suddenly it was 12:30 and I was just finishing up the last chapter. I guess I'd have to give it two thumbs up.

Now for a little of the plot.... Danny Mago is a small, quiet 16 year old who is mercilessly picked on by his schoolmates, but recognized by his teachers as having remarkable artistic abilities. Knowing that his widowed mother is struggling to financially support Danny and his handicapped sister Angela, the deputy headmistress of his school offers him a job helping out on the grounds of the nun's convent and working as artistic assistant to Mother Madeleine, a renowned local artist. In cleaning up and cutting back overgrown portions of the convent grounds, Danny discovers an ancient elevator through which he visits some interesting historical characters. Soon he becomes involved in a contest to plan a backdrop to the altar of the new cathedral and a strange Turkish girl searching for an ancient painting of Our Lord (the Mandylion - rhymes with pavilion, not dandylion). Throw in an ancient Maori cloak and some mysterious trips courtesy of his guardian angel, and the result is a rather enjoyable, occasionally hair-raising, adventure story in a Catholic framework with a New Zealand setting. (There are interesting artistic sub-themes as well.) The author has included a glossary of New Zealand terms and an overview of some of the religious references. My two year old highly enjoys just hearing the words in the glossary which sound very funny to her - aniwaniwa, kohekohe, tiki, etc.

The author has a humorous writing style that should be appealing to modern readers. Leo Madigan, who has also authored a number of books about Fatima, skillfully interweaves a Catholic way of looking at things, but never at the expense of a good story. I especially like the sub-plot concerning Danny's sister Angela, who is seriously disabled. Her relationship with Danny is beautifully portrayed (they communicate with each other using their own system of sign-language, he confides in her during difficult times). Also, unlike a number of stories with crippled heroes who are cured in the end (like If All the Swords in England and The Hidden Treasure of Glaston), Angela's part of the story wraps up happily even though she is not completely cured of her malady. I appreciate this unique angle, especially for those who are dealing with such difficulties every day for the rest of their lives. There wouldn't be much hope for these much-beloved souls if happiness depended on a miraculous physical cure.

I hope you and your children (best for ages 12 and up) enjoy the story as much as I did.