Back in late 2018, I read the first two installments of Katie Coppens’ new series The Acadia Files. At that point, she had put out a summer and autumn installment. You can see my review of those here. I missed the winter edition, but the spring book came out March 31st and it rounds out the series perfectly.
Acadia Greene is one of my favorite protagonists. She has such curiosity and when she finds a topic that she is interested in, she goes after it full throttle. In this book, she talks about meteors and dinosaurs, considers the scientific principle of mass and impact, and looks into pollination and pesticides. Even Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring are brought into the mix.
The book starts with a discussion of meteors and dinosaurs. What is special for our current educational situation, is that Acadia creates her own hypothesis about how meteors hit the earth and creates a scientific journal entry. Curious young readers can copy her experiment and see if their own research yields the same results. She also journals about what spring looks like. Since we are all encouraged to take walks and explore nature (staying 6 feet apart of course) that is a great activity for kids to do!
Acadia is a fun character to follow around on your science journey. I appreciate how Coppens encourages kids to keep learning. There are many kids who really excel when they pick a subject that is meaningful to them and just pursue it. The inclusion of a handwritten timeline and “Facts About Malaria” at the show how important research is. I also adore that they are “handwritten.” I keep trying to get my kids to write things out first! The Acadia Files books really encourage research and give useful links to sites that Coppens found helpful. This is a great series for any kid who likes science.
* Note – I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.