A few nights ago, Minnow was in the mood to make videos of some of her favorite books – almost any books, except ones with an overt scientific bent. Right now, she wants books with a storyline, and I’m afraid that some of the sciencey books I’d lined up for this month are not story-driven enough for her tastes.

But among the books she picked out, was a Little Golden Book called “Little Cottontail” by Carl Membling and illustrated by Lilian Obligado. As we read the book, it occurred to me that while on the surface this was a heart-warming book about a little rabbit’s coming of age, if we dug a little deeper…there was science.

The alert reader notices that the little cottontail is learning about foraging for food in different seasons and is dramatically taught about how to avoid becoming food for a predator. The next morning, I wanted to follow up on the book and I initiated the following conversation with Minnow:

SciWo: Do you remember in the book last night, what did the rabbit eat?
Minnow: Bunny.
SciWo: Right, the bunny in the book Little Cottontail. What do bunnies eat?
Minnow: Carrots.
SciWo: Yep, bunnies can eat carrots. What else? Do they eat grass?
Minnow: Nooo.
SciWo: When bunnies can’t eat carrots, what do they eat? Do you remember what they eat in the winter when snow is on the ground?
Minnow: I’m petting The Pup.
SciWo: OK, what does The Pup eat?
Minnow: Dog food.
SciWo: That’s right, the pup eats dog food. What do you eat?
Minnow: People food.
SciWo: Yes, you eat people food, but what sort of people food?
Minnow: Mommy!
SciWo: Well, yes, you ate from mommy’s mo-mo’s when you were a bab…
Minnow: Daddy! The Pup!
SciWo: You eat Mommy and Daddy and The Pup?!?
Minnow: (Leans over and pretends to gnaw on my shin) Yes.
SciWo: Silly girl. You don’t eat us. We’re you’re family. Want some pancakes for breakfast?
Minnow: Pancakes! … And juice!

All of that got me thinking about other books that talk about conventional or unconventional predator-prey relationships and herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores in a way that gives preschoolers the storyline they seek. Here’s what I came up with:

• The three little pigs (This version by James Marshall, though not the one we have, looks to be an excellent retelling of the classic tale.)
• The gingerbread man
• Minnow would say that this book is too scary, but Rudyard Kipling’s Rikki-tikki-tavi certainly narrates an intense story of predators and prey.

Want to get more young kids excited about science (maybe without even knowing that science is what they are learning)? Check out these projects in our DonorsChoose challenge:

• high poverty pre-K students in North Carolina need 7 great books, like The Giving Tree and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What do you see? (just $113 to complete and 2 donors have already given through our challenge.)
• high poverty first graders in California need a math activity center where they learning can occur “disguised as playing” (just $38 to complete!)
• high poverty kindergartners in Georgia want to watch butterflies hatch and soar (just $73 to complete!)
• high poverty 2nd graders in North Carolina need life cycle vocabulary books and a set of stamps depicting the life cycle of various animals to integrate reading, writing, and science education (just $73 to complete)