Oscar and the Bird: A Book about Electricity by Geoff Waring (Candlewick Press, 2011) has a fictional frame for an otherwise instructional book about electricity basics. The fictional animal characters makes an otherwise difficult concept easy to approach. When Oscar the cat accidently turns on the windshield wipers on the tractor, a bird explains to him why they began moving and how they will stop again.
The book covers a wide variety of topics from switches and batteries to complete and incomplete simple circuits. It also mentions power stations, lightning, and windmills as other sources of electricity, all at a kid-appropriate level. The last two pages share more thoughts to consider and a brief index.
I love how engaging the information is since it is portrayed in the story frame of Oscar, himself, learning. I’m excited to see that Waring wrote a few more books in this “Start With Science” series, all of which appear to feature Oscar learning about a concept from a different animal friend. What a great way for kids to learn!
