One regular feature that Biblioguides posts on social media is called Bookalikes. Their team highlights two books that are related and complementary in some way. What interested me about the pairing of Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature by Joyce Sidman with Blockhead: the Life of Fibonacci by Joseph D’Agnese was that they looked like they might go well with the way I prefer to introduce young children to science and math. 

I don’t believe science textbooks are of much benefit to grade school-aged children. Until they reach a stage of maturity where they can think abstractly rather than concretely, introducing scientific subjects should be about sparking curiosity and wonder. 

Swirl by Swirl accomplishes this beautifully. The absorbing, detailed illustrations show spirals you have probably thought of: seashells and snail shells, rams horns, sprouting ferns, and spiderwebs.

I had not thought of snakes and hibernating mammals curled in their nests for warmth and safety, octopus and spider monkey arms, or the crests of waves.

With a minimum of words, Sidman suggests the benefits of the spiral shape.

There are additional details at the end so you can learn more with your children when they are ready. Sidman even mentions the Fibonacci sequence. 

Blockhead, a picture book biography, is a step beyond Swirl by Swirl, but combines the wonders of math with the history of discovery. The author starts with the few known facts about Fibonacci’s life and tells a compelling tale of a boy who notices things other people don’t who becomes a man who never outgrows his insatiable curiosity.

The author says that, though little is known about the life of Fibonacci, historians don’t believe he realized the importance of the number sequence he identified. D’Agnese credits Fibonacci with that knowledge.

And, thanks to Fibonacci, we don’t have to do math with Roman numerals!

You may find out more about Swirl by Swirl and Blockhead at biblioguides.com.