desert palmetto
Level 2 · Ages 6–8 · A literature-based STEM curriculum

Tale & Tinker

Twelve beloved chapter books. Twelve hands-on projects.

Every unit pairs one full chapter book with three weeks of making. Each week your child reads or listens, tells the story back, meets one real science idea, then builds — and the three projects stack into one finished build they can play with.

One week in every unit runs a true experiment — predict, test, observe, explain — on a printable kids’ lab sheet. Secret-mission questions, a fridge game-board, and a reading chart keep every chapter alive between build days.

It rides alongside any reading program, runs on ordinary household materials, and is secular and open-and-go. Above all, it’s built to help your child fall in love with reading.

Tale & Tinker — the printed curriculum
Level
Level 2 · Ages 6–8
Units
12 beloved books
Length
36 weeks
Pages
205
Format
US Letter PDF

$39 ONE TIME

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Look inside

Exactly what you’ll hold

Contents page listing twelve units and their science principles
Twelve units, in order of gently increasing complexity
A unit opener showing the science principles and the three-week build
Every unit leads with its own build
The printable reading game-board
A game-board for the fridge — one space per chapter
A weekly hands-on project page with materials and build steps
One big build a week, from household stuff
The kids’ science lab sheet — predict, test, observe, explain
A real experiment on a kids’ lab sheet
The daily engagement tools — game-board, secret missions, listening clicker
Little tools that keep readers hooked
The twelve units

Twelve beloved chapter books. Twelve hands-on projects.

Three weeks per book, one science principle per week, and a build that grows with the story. Open any unit.

Unit 01 The Mouse and the Motorcycle Beverly Cleary
  1. Week 1 Structures & scale
  2. Week 2 Forces, friction & motion
  3. Week 3 Simple machines

The buildA hotel room in a cardboard box, a vehicle that really rolls, and a machine that stages the rescue — one playable diorama.

Unit 02 My Father’s Dragon Ruth Stiles Gannett
  1. Week 1 Engineering & design
  2. Week 2 Structures & bridges
  3. Week 3 Flight

The buildWild Island in a box, a bridge that holds, and a dragon glider that launches to freedom.

Unit 03 Charlotte’s Web E. B. White
  1. Week 1 Living things & food webs
  2. Week 2 Web engineering
  3. Week 3 Life cycles

The buildThe Zuckerman barn, a web spun and tested in its doorway, and an egg sac ready for spring.

Unit 04 Stuart Little E. B. White
  1. Week 1 Scale & measurement
  2. Week 2 Buoyancy
  3. Week 3 Wind & sails

The buildTiny Stuart, his pond, a boat that floats and carries, and a sail to race it across.

Unit 05 Mr. Popper’s Penguins Richard & Florence Atwater
  1. Week 1 Animal adaptation
  2. Week 2 Insulation
  3. Week 3 Friction & sliding

The buildAn icy penguin habitat, an insulated den that keeps the cold in, and a slide for performing penguins.

Unit 06 The Cricket in Times Square George Selden
  1. Week 1 Sound & vibration
  2. Week 2 Pitch
  3. Week 3 How sound travels

The buildThe Bellinis’ newsstand, a real little instrument, and a megaphone to carry the music.

Unit 07 Homer Price Robert McCloskey
  1. Week 1 Simple machines
  2. Week 2 Chain reactions & energy
  3. Week 3 Machines working together

The buildUncle Ulysses’s lunchroom, the runaway doughnut machine, and one grand chain-reaction contraption.

Unit 08 The Boxcar Children Gertrude Chandler Warner
  1. Week 1 Reuse & resourcefulness
  2. Week 2 Keeping cool
  3. Week 3 Dams & structures

The buildA boxcar home from found things, a no-electricity cooler, and a dam with its own pool.

Unit 09 Pippi Longstocking Astrid Lindgren
  1. Week 1 Forces & gravity
  2. Week 2 Levers
  3. Week 3 Pulleys

The buildVilla Villekulla, a lever that lifts easily, and a pulley that hoists Pippi’s horse.

Unit 10 Fantastic Mr. Fox Roald Dahl
  1. Week 1 Burrows & digging
  2. Week 2 Tunnels & soil
  3. Week 3 Tunnel networks

The buildThe foxes’ den, a tunnel that won’t cave in, and a network that reaches all three farms.

Unit 11 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum
  1. Week 1 Wind, weather & storms
  2. Week 2 Tornadoes
  3. Week 3 Air & flight

The buildThe road to the Emerald City, a real tornado in a bottle, and a parachute to drift home.

Unit 12 The Wild Robot Peter Brown
  1. Week 1 What is a robot?
  2. Week 2 Robot grippers
  3. Week 3 Sense, adapt & survive

The buildRoz the robot on her island, a working gripper, and a camouflaged winter lodge.

Materials
Everything runs on ordinary household stuff — cardboard, tape, string, bottle caps. Nothing to buy as a kit; every unit lists what you’ll need up front.
The experiment
One week in every unit is a true experiment — predict, test, observe, explain — recorded on a printable kids’ lab sheet.

For the grown-up

  • It protects the child’s choice and runs on ordinary household materials.
  • Portfolio-friendly: the game-board, photos, and projects document a year of growth.
  • Secular, screen-free, and flexible — reading matters most; a busy week’s project can slide.
What you get

One PDF, a full year

  • Twelve book units — 36 weeks of read, talk, and build
  • Read-aloud and audiobook friendly — your child doesn’t have to read independently yet
  • A real experiment with a printable kids’ lab sheet in every unit
  • Secret-mission questions for every day’s reading, in every book
  • A printable game-board and reading chart for every book
  • Simple materials lists — ordinary household stuff, nothing to buy as a kit
  • Instant digital download

An independent reading & STEM study companion. Created independently; not affiliated with, authorized, or endorsed by the authors or publishers of the featured books. You provide the books (print or audiobook) to use alongside this guide.

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