I'm back with another book for you. This week it's Michael Rosen's poetry collection Centrally Heated Knickers (tehe!). It's a collection of poems all about science and technology, and is a fun, and slightly bonkers look at lots of different topics within these areas.
If I were a primary school teacher I would be really grateful for this book when it came to exploring all things science with my class! It's divided up into four sections, Environment, Design and Innovation, Chemistry, and Physics, and there are around twenty-five poems per section. Topics covered include sustainable energy, how we can help the planet, the properties of different materials, space, food, and lots more!
The poems themselves are typical of Michael Rosen's style. They are silly, irreverent at times, full of word play, and the joy of language. They are also touching, thought provoking musings on modern life. I think quite a few of these poems would act as springboard for discussion with children (hence why they would be great in the classroom), opening the door to hot topics such as sustainability, renewable energy and climate change. They are domestic, child friendly, and usually based around a child character. I remember doing simple experiments in primary school around weight, speed, melting points etc, and these poems took me back to those days. The time before science meant getting out the Bunsen Burners and chemicals in test tubes!
I also discovered, when researching for this post, that Michael Rosen used some of the poems in Centrally Heated Knickers to create a stage show! There's a couple of great videos of it on YouTube, this is the making of, and this one is the trailer of the show, giving you an idea of the way Rosen really brings his poems to life during performance. These poems definitely need to be enjoyed aloud. I tried reading them in my head, but as anyone who loves poetry knows, you can't get a real idea of the sound of the words, or the rhythm of the poem without vocalising it!
At the moment in the UK a lot of people are having to homeschool their children, and I think this would be the perfect book to use to help engage your children in a bit of science, and maybe it might even inspire you to do some fun DIY experiments! You can buy it on Amazon here (the kindle version is only £2.99!).
Thanks for reading, L X
Next up - Flour Babies by Anne Fine (which I've started reading, and it's great!)
(Ps. not sure what's up with the formatting on this post...? Sorry!)
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