Push-Pull Morning: Dog-Powered Poems About Matter and Energy [Hardcover]

Introduce children to physics through play, poetry, and a puppy in this joyous celebration of how physics matters in our everyday lives.

This remarkable picture book explores scientific concepts (gravity, magnetism, electricity, friction, etc.) through the story of the relationship between a child and a puppy. Acclaimed author Lisa Westberg Peters’s poems convey concepts in a way that children will remember—often with humor. Who could forget the various phases when they’re presented in the form of a dog—solid when eating dinner, liquid when pouring herself into her basket, and gas when leaping erratically after a fly? Serge Bloch’s whimsical illustrations extend the humor—and the love—in this tale of a child, a dog, and the energy that abounds in their world.

Extensive notes at the end of the book define and explain the physics subjects included in the poems.2024 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List

A dog and a child joyously demonstrate gravity, friction, inertia, and other physical phenomena...With an eye to her STEM-centric theme, Peters outfits her free-verse romps with titular references to physics and parenthetical identifications of relevant topics or principles...Playfulness and pedagogy intertwined. —Kirkus Reviews

Picture book poetry, stated by a dog-loving young boy, introduces principles of physics in an inventive blend likely to intrigue... (with) deft blank verse and energetic, comic line drawings... the dual thrust should interest fans of Peters’s many other books and may invite or challenge pet lovers, as well as readers and teachers of poetry or science. —School Library Journal

Peters’ energetic and elµ