Sink Or Swim! The Science of Water

by Janice VanCleave

VanCleave shares Taylor's gift for making science tactile and immediately doable—you'll find the same philosophy of 'grab what's in your kitchen and discover something real' here. Where Taylor focuses on water's properties through elegant demonstrations, VanCleave casts a wider net across physics and chemistry, but with that same infectious enthusiasm for hands-on discovery that makes you want to start experimenting right now.

by David Macaulay

Macaulay approaches simple machines with the same spirit of playful investigation you loved in Taylor's water experiments, but he adds his signature illustrated humor—imagine a woolly mammoth explaining pulleys and levers. His cross-sections and diagrams make invisible principles suddenly visible, much like Taylor's periscope project reveals how light travels, except Macaulay's scope is broader and his illustrations are absolutely delightful.

by Donna Jeanne Haraway

This is your surprise recommendation—a narrative biography rather than an activity book, but hear me out: Humboldt spent his life asking exactly the kinds of questions Taylor's experiments embody: 'How does this work? How does it connect to everything else?' Wulf shows how genuine scientific curiosity looks when it's pursued with wonder rather than rote learning, and it might inspire you to ask deeper 'why' questions about the experiments you're doing.

by Helen Edom

Smith's Usborne series has that same 1990s energy as Taylor's work—clear instructions, achievable results, and a genuine respect for young readers' intelligence. The experiments here span more ground (light, sound, electricity, forces), so if you've worked through Taylor's water focus and want to explore how science principles connect across different domains, this is the natural next step.