Book Giveaway: SCIENCE, MATTER AND THE BASEBALL PARK by Catherine Ciocchi

Catherine Ciocchi has a new picture book, SCIENCE, MATTER AND THE BASEBALL PARK, illustrated by Chantelle and Burgen Throne and published by Gmone Road Publishing. Catherine has agreed to send a copy to the one lucky winner.

All you have to do to get in the running is leave a comment. Reblog, tweet, or talk about it on Facebook with a link and you will get additional chances to win. Just let me know other things you do to share the good news, so I can put the right amount of tickets in my basket for you. Sharing on Facebook, Twitter, or reblogging really helps spread the word about a new book. So, thanks for helping Candace, Chantelle, and Bergen.

If you have signed up to follow my blog and it is delivered to you every day, please let me know when you leave a comment and I will give you an extra ticket. Thanks!

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

There is much to see at the ballpark, and it all matters because it’s all matter.

In this fast-paced rhyming story, baseball and science fans alike will be delighted to see all the solids, liquids and gases that make game day extra special. As the camera zooms in on instant replay, things slow down long enough to see all those atoms in motion. The scoreboard, a slushie, and even the air – wherever you look, it’s matter in there.

With cleverly constructed, action-oriented illustrations that make learning about science simple and fun, this book knocks matter out of the ballpark and is sure to score a home run with enthusiastic young readers.

A Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Books of the Year selection (2024)

BOOK JOURNEY:

I’ve been a science teacher for almost thirty years. When I introduce science concepts, it’s very important that I use real-life examples that learners will know. Matter is an important concept across all grade levels, from the young in elementary school to the high school chemistry class. In fact, matter (solids, liquids and gases) will forever be in everyone’s life because Matter is EVERYTHING!  It’s important for me to convey to readers and learners that science is not just found in a classroom.

In my early years of teaching, I had a bulletin board in my classroom with “What’s a matter?” written across the top. Students could bring in anything they wanted to pin up. One student pinned a sneaker. Another pinned a bologna sandwich, we agreed to leave that up for one day, maybe two.

I started writing several years into my teaching career.  When I need to simplify sophisticated science concepts to help my high school students understand, my strategies include elementary explanations with drawings. We constantly draw in class. This is where my ideas for writing picture books came from.

was “most editors don’t like rhyme.” What? Why?  I think it’s fun to read aloud and listen to. Then I learned it’s the “bad” rhyme they don’t like.  Oh, okay, so I’ll just write “good” rhyme. As any rhyming writer knows, this is a monumental task. There is nothing fast and easy about writing good rhyme.

Both familiar references and rhyme are contributing elements I use to keep my students engaged. I’ve implemented “Rhyme Time” when I’m introducing or summarizing concepts. Students are given a nonfiction rhyming piece which I wrote, with the rhyming words missing. Their job is to fill in the blanks. There are lots of laughs when we do this.

I have three grown sons who were all athletes growing up. Our family spent many years on all kinds of ball fields.   This must be where my idea for incorporating a baseball park in my story came from. I wrote Science Matter and the Baseball Park many years ago. It’s been revised over and over again with lots of rejections in between. When Sandra Sutter at Gnome Road Publishing contacted me to say she really loved it, I was thrilled.   The feeling is simply amazing when someone sees your vision.  Minor revisions were seamless with Sandra. She is an excellent publisher who collaborates in a detailed, considerate way.  I love working with Gnome Road, especially the talented illustrators, Chantelle and Burgen Thorne. They knocked it out of the park with extremely clever illustrations that I could never have imagined.

It’s important to remember that science is part of our every day, especially matter, because it’s EVERYTHING! In Science Matter and the Baseball Park, the fun of a baseball game just flies off the page…even the crowd noise!   Young readers won’t even know they’re learning as this book takes them through the ballpark… and that’s what really matters!

 

 

CATHERINE’S BIO:

Catherine Ciocchi teaches high school Earth Science and loves rhyming about science concepts. Her book Science Matter and the Baseball Park uses a clever combination of science and baseball that makes this picture book a homerun.

Her first picture book This Land is Your Land is a rhyming picture book that introduces landforms in a way that shows readers the land is theirs.

Catherine is married with three sons and enjoys her beautiful view living in the Hudson Valley, New York.

 

 

CHANTELLE AND BURGEN’S BIOS:

Chantelle and Burgen Thorne are an internationally-published illustration team specializing in children’s books. In the last three years they have illustrated ten trade books – two of which have won international awards. They have a long history in creating art for the educational market and their work has been featured in over 1000 readers and textbooks worldwide. Most recently, their work in Kantiga Finds the Perfect Name was selected for the IBBY 2022 honors list for Best Illustration in South Africa. To learn more about Burgen visit https://www.chantelleandburgen.com.

Once upon a time, two (married) graphic designers working in advertising (Chantelle) and publishing (Burgen) in South Africa decided to follow their dreams and become illustrators – their shared passion. Then they had an even brighter idea – to collaborate on their artworks together – and now it’s very difficult to say which illustration belongs to whom! Thanks to the liberating powers of the internet and email, Chantelle and Burgen left the Big City in 2006 and headed to the green hills of KwaZulu-Natal, where they now live in a blissful country idyll, having a marvelous time creating illustrations that combine traditional media with the glorious flexibility of new technology. When meeting new people, they take turns at answering the question ‘So what do you do for a living?’ because they get a huge kick out of saying ‘We illustrate children’s books’!

Their work is lively and expressive, full of life and movement. A bit like them! Their most recent project spans over 2000 illustrations to date, with an original cast of quirky characters and detailed sets designed and developed by them for Pearson South Africa. Other clients include Macmillan, Heinemann, Hodder, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press to name a few.

Catherine, thank you for sharing your book and journey with us. What a clever way to teach children about the matter, that is solids, liquids, and gas. This book is so great, that readers will feel like they’re outside watching a baseball game at the ballpark. They will never know this is a STEM book. They will just soak up the action with the whoosh and crack of the bat, screaming crowds on their feet cheering, popcorn and sodas flying out of their cups.

The text is lively. The rhyme bounces along like the baseball and Chantelle & Burgen’s  Illustrations are, as always, fabulous. They will keep readers (young or old) flipping the pages and their eyes riveted to the book. Teachers will want to add some fun and use this in their classrooms.

Talk tomorrow,

Kathy