The Earth-Shaking Facts about Earthquakes with Max Axiom, Super Scientist

by Katherine Krohn, Tod Smith (Illustrator), Al Milgram (Illustrator)

Overview

You never had a science teacher like this! Max Axiom is a super-cool super-scientist. Using powers he acquired in a freak accident. Max demonstrates and explains science in ways never before seen in the classroom. Whether shrinking down to size of an ant or riding on a sound wave, Max can do whatever it takes to make science super cool and accessible.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781429617598
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	01/01/2008
Series:	Graphic Science Series
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	1,052,770
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.12(d)
Age Range:	8 - 14 Years

About the Author

Katherine Krohn is the author of many books for young readers, including biographies, fiction, and graphic science and history books. Her books on supernatural subjects include Haunted Houses (Capstone Press) and Fortune Telling (Kidhaven Press). Krohn was born in Germany and grew up in the Detroit area. She now lives in the Pacific Northwest, home of many reported bigfoot sightings.

Tod Smith grew up in Rhode Island, where he attended the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. He started working in comics in the 1980s, and has been an illustrator for comics and books ever since. He loves to play music in his free time, and when he was in middle school, the Beatles inspired him to start to play the guitar. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Candace.

Table of Contents

Shaky ground — Seismic activity — Shocks and quakes — Being prepared.

Editorial Reviews

I’m in love – or, better yet, my son is in love! We’ve had the opportunity to review graphic science books on all sorts of topics that are fun and easy to read. Comic book style science sounds really fluffy doesn’t it? Believe it or not, the Max Axiom series is full of “real” science that goes deep enough to be appropriate for any upper elementary/early middle school child. My son is a less-than-zealous textbook reader. (Picture eyes glazing over and giant yawns.) After reading – or being read to – from a textbook, he recalls very little of the information. Over the years, I’ve turned science into hands-on unit studies and supplemented with lots of library books, which has worked quite well. During one of these unit study times, I came across Max Axiom and wanted to know more. I found that Capstone Press offers many, many Max Axiom books, and boy were my son and I excited! Twenty-four books total cover the areas of biology/botany, chemistry, physical and earth science. In each book, Max Axiom (a scientist with super powers), goes on an adventure to learn all about the topic at hand. He can shrink to the size of bacteria and whiz through the human body, or go back in time to learn more about a famous scientist of the past. All of this in a 32 page comic book! (When I say comic book, don’t think of flimsy pages, these are “real” books.) http://thecurriculumchoice.com/2011/07/max-axiom-graphic-science-books/

Curriculum Choice blog

There are lots of engaging resources available for teaching science to young kids, but one of the best is strangely little known: a terrific and highly entertaining series of science-themed graphic novels from Capstone Press, featuring a super scientist by the name of Max Axiom. Max Axiom, the story goes, was hiking one day when he was struck by megacharged lightning. The accident gave him the ability to shrink to the size of the atom, while his magic lab coat enables him to travel through space and time. These super powers mean that when he is, for instance, investigating viruses, he can stand on a human knee and watch as a scrape becomes infected. He can travel down inside a plant to show the role of chloroplasts in photosynthesis. Each book in the series features an adventure focused on one science theme, such as Cell Life, Chemical Reactions, or Electricity. Information is presented clearly and engagingly, and each book also features a glossary, suggestions for further reading, and pre-screened internet links. There are more than 15 books in the series altogether. Unfortunately, the Brooklyn Public Library and New York Public Library each only carry one of these well-designed books, but you can purchase four for the price of three on Amazon. http://www.examiner.com/homeschooling-in-new-york/max-axiom-graphic-novels-make-learning-science-fun

Examiner.com

Max Axiom™: Super Scientist Maxwell J. Axiom is no ordinary superhero. He is no other than the super scientist! If you had any doubt about science being super, he’s here to quench that doubt. Born to a marine biologist mother and nuclear physicist/park ranger father in Seattle, USA, he’s got black skin, brown eyes and no hair. He is the scientific version of Shaft, swift, dynamic, cool. His super-powers come from a lightning that struck him one day on a wilderness hike: it gave him a newfound energy and motivated him to travel the globe and earn degrees in every aspect of science. Equipped with this enormous knowledge that he was ready to share, he assumed a new identity: Max Axiom, Super Scientist. His superpowers include super-intelligence, ability to shrink to a size of an atom, time travel and X-ray vision. So apart from breaking a few laws of physics in the start there, he does make up for it by using all of his powers to explain the science to the readers. Earthquakes Max is in danger at the beginning of this comic, as his car is stuck on a collapsing bridge. He gets saved by a rescue helicopter and flying becomes his mode of transport. By the end he gets to fly in a helicopter, personal automatic hand glider and a private jet. In addition he rides a sleek motorbike and scuba dives. No wonder, when he gets to visit the top of the Mount Everest, dive off the coast of Alaska back in 1964, fly over San Andreas fault in California and then go to Taiwan, and also visit Iran after the devastating 2003 earthquake and all this in just 23 pages.

Imperial College London student newspaper Felix

The graphic book format is a favorite of mine for learning! Such books are perfect for students who are reluctant readers and never seem to finish books on their own. It is also a wonderful way to introduce nonfiction books to young people. Young adults who want to read anything they can get their hands on will enjoy the graphic images and fast-paced text. The full-color graphics make an enormous impact on the story. The author includes a narrative box on most pages to give the reader extra information to help with comprehension. The vocabulary has been well-selected, and this book is an excellent resource that could be used for writing a summary, writing a book report, or conducting research. This story begins when a devastating earthquake hits the earth. Max Axiom’s life is in danger. Young adults will learn exactly what happens during an earthquake and what people should do in the aftermath. There are four chapters in just 27 pages, and all major facts are well covered. At the end of the book, the author includes two pages of additional interesting facts. This book includes a glossary, a “Read More” section, a list of recommended Internet sites, and an index. I highly recommend this book for children who want to start their own personal libraries, for classroom and school libraries, and for anyone who wants to entice a reluctant reader.

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