Children’s Book Reviews: Tinkering, Making, & Doing
Rosie Revere, Engineer
Citation: Beaty, A. (2013). Rosie Revere, Engineer. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers.
Age Range: 4+ (with adult support)- best for 5 to 8 year olds
What to expect:
This poetic, rhyming story is about Rosie, a little girl who loves to build and make inventions.She wonders if she can make a contraption in which her aunt can fly. She fails to make the flying machine and is disheartened, but her aunt calls it a “raging success” and encourages her to keep prototyping.
Why I love this book:
I love that this book about engineering has a female protagonist. Rosie was written as a dedication to the women who worked to support troops during World War II. My favorite thing about this book is that it gives Rosie the space to fail. Instead the book shows the value of iteration and perseverance. Her aunt gives her the gift of a notebook in which to keep track of her progress and tells her, “The only true failure can come if you quit.”
Galimoto
Citation: Williams, K. (1990). Galimoto. New York: Harper Collins Children’s Books
Age Range: 4 and up
What to expect:
Galimoto is the Chicewa (national language of Malawi, Africa) word for car. Kondi wants to make a toy car, but does not have the money to buy all of the necessary pieces. He explores his town collecting all of the necessary parts. At the end of the day, his galimoto is revered by his friends.
Why I love this book:
This book expresses the power of creating things from cost-free, found objects and is a great starting place for conversations with children about what makes something truly valuable. It shows Koni diligently pursuing his goal even when others admonish or tease him. The book ends by emphasizing that it is the making of the toy and not the toy itself that brings true joy as Kondi goes to sleep wondering what he will make his galimoto into tomorrow.
OH NO! (or How My Science Project Destroyed the World)
Citation: Barnett, M. (2010). OH NO! (or How My Science Project Destroyed the World). New York: Disney, Hyperion Books.
Age Range: 3 and up
What to expect:
This book stands on the power of it’s humorous nature and it’s brilliant, comic-like illustrations. A little girl must stop the giant robot she has created for a science fair from destroying the world. As she chases it, she imagines all of the characteristics she could have given to the robot to prevent it from being dangerous. She invents a giant toad to fight the robot, and then realizes maybe that wasn’t the best idea…
Why I love this book:
The books shows a young girl in the role of a scientist and inventor and is perfect for showing girls that comic books can have heroines as well as heroes. There is limited text which allows the illustrations to tell the story and opens up the opportunity for a rich dialogue with children about what they see and what they think might happen next. I love the subtle focus on what makes humans different than machines as the girl imagines that the robot would be less dangerous if it could hear, feel pain, etc.
If I Built a Car
Citation: Van Dusen, C. (2007). If I Built a Car. New York: Puffin Books.
Age Range: 4 and up
What to expect:
Told in verse, this is the story of Jack imagining all of the spectacular things he would add to make a car perfect. His ideas become wilder and wilder as he continues to imagine all the things his perfect car could do.
Why I love this book:
This book is a great starting place for activities around prototyping and design. It leans heavily on children’s imaginations and shows that fantasy can be the basis of real plans. The rhyming verse supports children to learn the book’s complex vocabulary. The silly illustrations tell the story of the public’s reaction to Jack’s amazing car. The first and last pages introduce the idea of prototyping through sketching.
Tinkering is a pretty great!! I have submitted a proposal to hold a hands-on “Tinkering to Opportunity for ECE Teacher Prep” workshop at SXSW EDU. Support me by sharing this story and voting for me on PanelPicker.
