Making More

This beautiful book talked about all kinds of reproduction in living things. It’s very appropriate for all ages and should be a part of every elementary science collection.

This book, clearly a labor of love and hard work, explains reproduction (or as the author refers to it as "making more" ) in a way that is clear, informative, and even has touches of humor. The text is wide=ranging and clever and the illustrations are amazing (insightful, clear, informative, interesting....). It was a pleasure to read such a beautifully designed and thoughtful book. Katherine Roy's unique perspective shines through and captured my interest so that I kept reading without stop. This is a wonderful book to read and share with children and to have on hand for children to read and reread. They will then be able to savor the wonder of how we "make more." Bravo, Katherine Roy!

I was immediately drawn to this book by the beautiful illustrations which continued throughout the pages. Making More is a wonderful but also scientific explanation of reproduction in our world. I enjoyed that it is told as a story, rather than just a book of facts. As I read it, I thought of my own son and how I think it would be the PERFECT book to introduce him to the concept of reproduction. Well done!

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What a fantastic way to introduce kids to reproduction. It is so well explained and the illustrations are great. This would be perfect for a fifth grade classroom. My oldest daughter is only 7 but I would only hope this could be a resource for her when the time is right.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Making More is a scientific and straight to the point book about reproduction in species nature and our homes. I learned how birds reproduce which I always wondered about, but never googled.

The images that accompany are simply beautiful. They elevate the book to another level. It would be the book I would use to explain the reproduction to a child or will use to explain bird reproduction to my friends

Making More: How Life Begins by Katherine Roy (Norton Young Readers, March 2023) is a middle-grade nonfiction tome about animal reproduction, plant reproduction, and even fungi reproduction. In short, it will help every young reader gain a better insight into just how living things “make more” and continue the life cycle.

The first and last pages feel like a picture book: just a few words per page, with sweeping illustrations of a family, with an expectant mother, going for a walk in a park. This family provides a frame for learning about how all the living creatures they see also increase.

The explanatory sections of the book have a full-page illustration, then a few paragraphs of explanation, as well as a diagram to show just what is being discussed. Don’t read this picture book if you are squeamish about your children seeing pictures of animal sex and using proper terms for reproductive anatomy. Any middle-grade child reading this book will probably have questions answered about human intercourse as well, since the book provides descriptions using animal anatomy and obviously human anatomy has the same names as mammal anatomy.

I see Making More as an essential addition to nonfiction middle-grade shelf. Parents hesitant to talk about human reproduction may find it easier to approach from the “everything reproduces” perspective. I guess you can say that Making More helps ease the “birds and bees” discussion. (I feel like my kids and I didn’t really have awkward conversations, since we have tried to talk about it all since early childhood, but this book could only help!) I have to say that as an adult I learned things about how non-mammals reproduce, as well as more than I previously understood about plant reproduction. Now we just need to find a similar book in picture book format for younger children!

I received a digital copy of this book for review consideration.

In MAKING MORE, Katherine Roy observes and researches the creatures in her yard and neighborhood, and then conveys with a pure sense of wonder the amazing facts of low life begins. Covering a wide range of species, she clearly and thoroughly explains reproduction, cleverly leaving readers to infer how a human family, subtly represented here in the beginning and end illustrations, gets from baby-bump to baby.

Parents and teachers who are nervous about approaching this topic will appreciate this book’s light touch and isn’t-science-incredible approach. Gorgeously illustrated and certain to become a classic.

I LOVED this book! I have been looking for books to replace the really old ones in our elementary library. What a beauifully illustrated and organized book. I will definitely be purchasing this book for our library!

First off, I have to say, these illustrations are absolutely gorgeous! My kids and I enjoy learning about nature and while we’ve always talked about reproduction it was great to have a book that we could delve a little deeper into the different ways that plants and animals reproduce since we are learning about Zoology. The Crash Course Zoology video 9 by Dr. Rae Wynn Grant goes well with this book. I love that this book gives the many examples of reproduction, since not all plants and animals reproduce in the same way. My daughter especially loved the illustrations and wanted to know how they were made. This book would be a great addition to any library!

Thank you NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the opportunity to review this book prior to publication.