Flow, Spin, Grow: Looking for Patterns in Nature

Branching, spiraling, spinning―you can find patterns almost anywhere in nature, if you look for them. This book is a starting point that introduces kids to some major patterns in the natural world. Just as the branches of a tree spread upwards into the sky, roots branch deep into the ground. Branches also spread through our bodies, inside our lungs and veins. Storms and snail shells spiral; electrons and galaxies spin.

With brief text and full-spread illustrations, this book is designed to inspire kids to observe, discover, and explore hidden structures and shapes in the natural world around them. Why are things the way they are? This question, key to scientific inquiry, runs throughout the text.

Artwork in multilayered screen prints shows how the natural world is inherently beautiful, from the curve of your ear to the spiraling arms of our galaxy. Kids will come away with a deeper understanding that we are all connected to nature and part of its patterns.

PATCHEN BARSS has written, edited and produced stories about science, research and culture for more than 20 years. His writing has appeared in Nautilus Magazine, Scientific American, the Globe and Mail, National Post, and Toronto Star. He has been a producer at CBC Television and the Discovery Channel, and has a longstanding fascination with patterns and nature. He lives with his family in Toronto, Ontario.

TODD STEWART trained as a landscape architect and urban planner but now works as an illustrator. Originally from Saskatchewan, he now lives in Montreal, Quebec, and runs a small-scale print studio. He is also the illustrator of See You Next Year.