http://www.physicscentral.com/experiment/colormephysics/index.cfm

The books are from the American Physical Society and can be freely downloaded (PDF). I have not tried them with my children yet. More advanced students can try the Manga series http://nostarch.com/catalog/manga .

Thanks so much I was looking for material like this for summer fun!

Thank you!

these are fabulous! thank you

Hi all,
I'm new here, but thought I might add my two cents if people are interested in physics books that are interesting to kids.
Russell Stannard has three that my DS(now 8)got into a while back: "The Time and Space of Uncle Albert", "Black Holes and Uncle Albert" and "Uncle Albert and the Quantum Quest". Also, Stephen Hawking co-wrote two books with his daughter Lucy (I believe the story is they wrote them so they could explain to Lucy's daughter what Grandpa did). These are fun: "George's Secret Key to the Universe" and "George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt".
For kids that are more serious about their physics Larry Gonick has a cartoon style textbookish work titled (aptly enough)"The Cartoon Guide to Physics". He also has a good one on Chemistry, and another on Genetics. DS is now cracking the American History by Gonick, and we'll see how that one goes.

I hope this helps someone else who is looking for suitable and fun material for their unique child! I'd love to hear if anyone else has any suggestions... I'm sure my boys will love the link previously posted.

The Color Me Physics books and website look cool! If I can tear DS7 away from his goal to play Minecraft all summer, I'm sure he'd love this site.

Welcome spkssftly! (I assume you also crrybgstck?) Our DS loved the Hawking books, and I recall that the Uncle Albert books came up as suggested reading when I ordered a book. It's good to hear a positive review; we'll check him out.

Thank's for the welcome St Pauli Girl! I feel like the new kid on the block, and frankly am a little intimidated by some of the wonderful things I hear all of these children doing. (I'm going through the brag thread now... it's pretty long though and it's not safe to keep my eyes on the computer screen and not watching the boys (DS8 and DS5) for too long or they get into *mischief*--hence the bgstck--) but I'm completely fascinated!
It sounds like you've got a science kid, too... what are your/his current favorite books?

Thanks for the link! My big girl already tore through one of the activity books pretty much before the ink even dried!!

I hope you don't get scared away. For me, reading about some of the amazing things that other kids are doing sort of puts things in perspective. The good thing about this forum is that everyone is free to share their stories - it is hard sometimes in real life. But my favorite part of this forum is the sense of community and belonging, which I hope you find as well.


DS7's favorite science books so far have been the Simon Basher series, esp. The Periodic Table: Elements with Style. He's now into Life of Fred (math) books. He's also just getting into watching some of the Khan Academy science videos. This is definitely a great place to find resources!

I can relate to the mischief! Glad you're prepared.

I just saw someone else reference the "Life of Fred" books and went and checked them out. They look like just what we've been needing! DS8 has been so bored in school, and I teach him what I remember as it pops up but am positive that I'm forgetting the order that things should be presented. We got his Terranova results back and even though his grade placement in math was 11.6, the school will only put him forward to 4th grade math. (I do happen to think that maybe the 11.6 is exaggerated some, or perhaps I'm misinterpreting it but also know that the school seems to move so S-l-o-w-l-y in presenting material and DS8 is hungering for more math) Life of Fred seems like a wonderful help!
Sorry if I'm over-sharing. I can't talk to any of my "Mom" friends here... I must be pent up!