Local author pens physics book for kids

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Lynne Mayer of Hampshire, a part-time instructor of computer science at Elgin Community College, also is teaching children about the science of physics through her new book, “Newton and Me.”

“My particular interest is in creating books that are educational in nature,” Mayer said. “Education has always been important to me. I possess a love of learning and would like to share that love with children by stimulating their curiosity about the world we live in.”

According to Mayer, her book is about a young boy at play with his dog, Newton, and how he discovers the laws of motion in his everyday activities. Told in rhyme and illustrated by artist Sherry Rogers, the book shows how physics applies to activities such as throwing a ball and riding a bike.

Sir Isaac Newton was an English physicist, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist and theologian. Mayer gives examples of Newton’s theories through examples that children can understand, such as how a wagon filled with rocks is heavier than a wagon that is empty.

The book, which was released in March and published by Sylvan Dell Publishing, has won the Tilliwig Brain Child Award and Learning Magazine’s 2011 Teachers’ Choice Award for Children’s Books.

Mayer presented her book this year to kindergarten through fifth-grade students at Otter Creek, Hillcrest and Huff elementary schools in Elgin. She also has given presentations at Fox Meadow Elementary School in South Elgin and McCormick Place in Chicago.

Mayer lived in Elgin for 20 years and moved to Hampshire one year ago. She has been a teacher at Elgin Community College for the past 15 years.

She studied painting with her father, Chicago artist John Stribrny. Her haiku and drawings are featured in two of her earlier books: “Creatures of the Galapagos” and “Herman’s Galapagos Adventure.”

“I’ve been inspired to write these two books because of the unique environment and the animals that live there,” Mayer said.

In addition to traveling to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Mayer stayed at a lodge in the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo preserve in Peru. The wildlife there included monkeys, sloths, pink river dolphins, lizards and parrots.

“It’s expensive to get there,” Mayer admitted, “but being there is not expensive. I thought I would most enjoy seeing the animals, but the people there impacted me more. They work very hard and are smiling all the time. They have a sense of community that we lack. It made me look at our life and our society with a different viewpoint.”

The lodge where Mayer stayed included the Angels of the Amazon health clinic.

“The clinic only has one doctor and two overnight rooms,” Mayer said. “Injured or sick people traveled for miles in dugout canoes in order to reach the clinic.”

Mayer said that she would like to write a children’s book about the Amazon. She may also write a follow-up to the “Newton and Me” book that would teach children about machines such as pulleys and levers.