10 h 16 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the smallest creature in your garden could open a whole world of questions?
In The Story-book of Science, Jean-Henri Fabre begins with things close to home: insects, plants, and the ground beneath your feet. The French naturalist and teacher guides young readers through familiar surroundings, asking how and why. Science starts here with something you can notice, rather than a heavy definition you must learn.
Fabre treats clear explanation as part of understanding. He watches small animals closely, ties ideas to what can be seen, and chooses common words wherever possible. When a new term is needed, he explains it along the way. His patient approach invites you to look again at ordinary life and find more to wonder about.
What you’ll discover
- Start close to home Find a starting point for science in the familiar world of house and garden.
- Look before you explain Follow Fabre's habit of watching closely before deciding how something works.
- Clear words for hard ideas Explore science through plain explanations that give unfamiliar terms a clear meaning.
- Small creatures worth noticing Share a naturalist's patient attention to insects and the lives of small animals.
- Knowledge leaves room for wonder Discover an approach in which understanding nature makes it more marvellous, not less.
Who will love it
You will love this if you enjoy curious questions, garden creatures, weather, machines and the stories behind ordinary things. It also welcomes readers who enjoy sharing nature and science aloud with children around an evening lamp.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- True stories are better than fairy tales
- Ants keep cattle and numbers grow fast
- Trees and animals have very different lifespans
- Ordinary things carry long stories of human work
- Ugly larvae become butterflies and fear fades with knowledge
- Lightning is electricity, and knowing this keeps you safe
- Water travels in a great circle through the sky
- The earth is a moving ball over a hot interior
- Flowers, poisons and bees show careful order in nature
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 10 h 16 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Livre d’histoires de science in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Livre d’histoires de science
by Jean-Henri Fabre · 1867
Six people gather while Uncle Paul turns ants, lightning and bees into true stories.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Why would a boy ask for true stories instead of fairy tales? In this book by Jean-Henri Fabre, Uncle Paul answers by telling his two nephews and his niece about ants, lightning, volcanoes and bees, one evening after another.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
True stories are better than fairy tales
The book opens in a country house where Uncle Paul lives with his nephews Emile and Jules, his niece Claire, and the old servants Jacques and Mother Ambroisine. Uncle Paul reads, farms, and watches every small creature in his garden. The children arrive with endless questions.
One evening Mother Ambroisine tells a tale of an ant that breaks its leg on the ice, and the story chains on without end. Then she starts the tale of Hop-o'-my-Thumb, which Emile already knows. Jules announces that he wants stories that are really true.
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What is The Story-book of Science about?
It follows Uncle Paul as he teaches his nephews Emile and Jules and his niece Claire about nature and science. Topics include ants, metals, cloth, lightning, clouds, volcanoes, the earth and sun, poisonous plants and bees.
Who are Emile, Jules and Claire?
They are the three children who stay with Uncle Paul. Claire is the eldest and gentle, Jules is quick, curious and hot-tempered, and Emile is the youngest and full of mischief. Their questions drive each talk.
Is The Story-book of Science a true story?
The frame, a family in a country house, is a teaching device. The science, the experiments and the historical accounts are real.
The author
Jean-Henri Fabre
1823–1915 · French entomologist and author
Jean-Henri Fabre was a French naturalist and entomologist, often called the "Homer of the insects" for turning patient observation into literature. The Story Book of Science shows his rare gift for making the natural world thrilling to young readers.
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