The Periodic Table: Elements with Style!

This book describes over 100 elements of the periodic table from a first-person point of view, making the elements seem like they are people. Each element has a two-page spread, with one page containing information about the element and the other page showing a cartoon picture of the element. The information listed includes the element's symbol, atomic number, color, and date of discovery. Each element then describes its characteristics through a first-person narrative. A glossary and index are available at the end, and a poster of the periodic table with the cartoon pictures is included.

This book is so cute and clever! It makes a topic which can be boring to students into something fun. Having the information written in first person helps to draw the reader into the book because it is more like a story. It includes some information on how the elements are grouped together, but mostly concentrates on describing the individual elements. The poster is an added bonus. My students loved this book! If you teach chemistry, this should definitely be part of your collection.

My daughter read this book over and over when she was 10. It came with a little poster of the periodic table that we hung in the bathroom. She knows the periodic table now. It wasn't a struggle and nobody had to teach her. Buy together with the chemistry reactions book.

What a fresh and original look at the periodic table! The book is compact in size, and gives a brief synopsis, including most the data from the periodic table such as the symbol, atomic number and weight, its standard state, color and classification.

The book is organized by periodic table group, the graphic at the top of the page shows each element's location on the table. The elements introduce themselves with a sense of humor and share facts about their appearance and uses.

Zinc, symbol Zn, says, "Here to protect and serve, I'm more useful than you'd zinc! I'm a very sociable element that's always happy to mix in with other metals."

The illustrations that represent each element make the book. Silicon is a computer chip/centipede while Aluminum is a stylized airplane. They evoke Japanese anime characters and the poster of the periodic table bound into the back of the book remids me of the Pokemon poster that used to hang in my entling's bedroom. I found the drawings utterly compelling.

The book invites casual reading as well as cover to cover absorption.

This seemed like a great book until our kid asked "what's death row?" - apparently the author found that a relevant example to include in a brief description of potassium... not awesome. If that doesn't bother you, buy the book.

This book has almost singlehandedly convinced my 6 year old he wants to be a chemist. He has read it repeatedly, memorized the chemical abbreviations and periodic numbers, learned about protons, neutrons, electrons, etc, and his favorite question to ask a new friend is now "What is your favorite element?" OK, not all kids will geek out this much, but the fun pictures and engaging text may just convince some other children to spend thier braincells on chemistry instead of Pokemon. Highly recommended!

My four year old became interested in the periodic table about a year ago and had most of the element names and atomic numbers memorized before we came across this book. I was worried it would be too simple for him but he loves it. It presents a good deal of facts about the history and names of the elements, along with the scientific facts about most of the elements. As one other poster pointed out, not all of the elements have details, my son was disappointed in this fact (particularly the unun- elements) but he loves it anyway. He amazes his teachers and bores his 4K classmates with the facts.

I think this approach is superb for children, and for the general public with interest in learning more about the elements. OK, it would not be for a chemistry major, but one seeking the basics in an easy to approach fashion.

Each elements tells you their story in a hundred or two words. Brilliant intruduction.

Peter Dingle, The Periodic Table: Elements with Style! (Kingfisher, 2007)

I was completely bummed out, and I mean completely, that Yttrium gets barely a mention in this book. Barely a mention! While this does make me question how well Dingle actually knows his audience (any aspiring science geek is going to love an element whose name begins with the letter Y, at least judging by my junior-high science classes), the book as a whole is still fun. As one would expect from the title, it's a high-level overview of various elements (though it's not complete, obviously. The biggest deficiency is in the radioactive world; the only element higher than uranium to get a page to itself is plutonium) with doodle-like superhero characters who illustrate, sometimes subtly, some of the properties of the element in question. Should be good for the 4-8 set, though I'd think once you get older than that, they'll want material that goes into a little more detail. And contains information on Yttrium. ***

I use these books with my middle school science students. They absolutely love them. The kids get excited about learning the various elements and arrangement of the periodic table because of the cartoon illustrations and interesting descriptions. Highly recommended both for teachers and for parents looking for a home study book on the elements. Several of my students went home and bought copies for themselves because they liked the book so much. My only complaint would be that some elements do not get their own page. They only show up on the group pages. Overall though, I give the book a five for making a subject that could be boring very fun.

This book is fun and interesting, and while it doesn't cover every element of the periodic table, it accomplishes what it sets out to do--get kids interested in elements in a way they'll remember. We use it along with "The Elements" by Theodore Gray, and between those 2 books my 6-year-old homeschooler is thoroughly enjoying learning about her world. We took the fold-out poster of the periodic table out of the book and hung it on the wall. Now when we do our "Element of the Day" lesson, she runs to the wall, finds where it is and the questions start coming. We read this book, then the corresponding pages in Gray's book. Good stuff!

This book is an excellent resource for teachers. The elements are presented in a simple way that elementary students can understand - giving each one a personality. My students love to hear about "the element of the day" and it really helps them understand the science concepts.

This book is incredible and written in such a clever way that our son won't put it down. He carries it around the house and everytime he reads about a new element we hear a shout from the other room telling us its' special ability and use.
BONUS: There is a colorful tear-out periodic table poster in the back of this book!

My son just started reading this book and found that in almost every chapter there is at least one element missing. Not being a chemistry expert, is there some reason why all the elements would not be listed? My son enjoys the book, however it is disappointing that he can't read about each element in the periodic table. We are homeschoolers and are using this as part of our class so I would have liked a complete listing of the elements. If you just want an introduction to the elements I suppose it would be fine.

Ok - I am teacher, M.Ed, licensure, etc... blah - we homeschool our kids focusing on chemistry this year. SO - bought this book (thankfully among other great ones see USBORNE "What is Chemistry About." Ok - so we are learning about the periodic table - making a game got online. We are working on the metals and guess what? There are elements missing from the book... crazy! My daughter was looking for Rh and Ir in the Transition Element chapter 3... missing both and several others... not in index at all? Are they just not elements to Banger? Ok the elements they include are cute little characters but what about the info about the others that are missing? Just not important? So, fyi pass on to anyone using this book... cute but not great. And as a teacher who knows how each penny you spend in the classroom counts and COMES from your paycheck (hard earned) - spend elsewhere! PLEASE! We need a History of the Periodic Table and Elements book....