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The Secret Science Alliance and the Copycat Crook
by Eleanor Davis. Bloomsbury. 2009. Review copy supplied by publisher. Official Secret Science Alliance website. All ages. Graphic novel.

The Plot: Julian Calendar, eleven, outwardly looks like a nerd and inwardly is actually an ultra nerd. He's smart, he's inventive, he cannot help or hide it, even in his attempts to make friends at his new school. When he stops pretending, he meets Greta Hughes, outwardly a bad girl, and Ben Garza, outwardly a dumb jock. Greta and Ben are ultra nerds like him, and together they form the Secret Science Alliance.

The Good: This better be the start of a series! We get the origins of the SSA, including what has to be one of the best top secret laboratories and workshops in the hideouts. It's full of stuff (including a bathroom!) and is neatly hidden from view because it's the forgotten basement of a long-ago torn down house on a vacant lot.

What's not to love about three kids who are outsiders who are brought together by their love of science, invention, and fun? The last part of the book involves their loss of their Invention Notebook, and plan to recover it and stop a criminal that is an Oceans Eleven caper for smart tweens. Bonus points because it's three kids, using all their smarts and invention and science skills.

See that cover? Diversity; and diversity that is included throughout the book. Any picture that is depicting the kids at school or other crowd event? Equally diverse, in terms of not only skin color, but also size and ability. Some kids are in wheelchairs; how often do you see that? Not often. The diversity also carries over to economics; one family lives in an apartment, one in a house, one in a duplex/twin.

The kids are eleven and twelve; and I'd call this an all-ages book. It has appeal for just about everyone, is fun, smart, and entertaining. Some of the jokes are for older kids (and grownups), such as Julian's name and the names of his siblings.

The artwork is full of details; you can see sample pages in the links given above for the official book website. It's also full color.

And finally...if MotherReader was using this for her Ways to Give Gifts posts, she'd say match it up with a chemistry set or any type of inventors set.

I'll be adding this to my favorite books read in 2009.


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© Elizabeth Burns of A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

The Secret Science Alliance, by Geisel Award winner (for her excellent beginning reader comic book, Stinky) Eleanor Davis is beyond amazing. The plot easily could have taken up a couple of hundred pages of a traditional young adult novel (without pictures.) The depth of the personalities of the three main characters, as well as a few secondary characters is also equal to any good young adult

I have been reading many, many picture books lately. Both for review and for a presentation that I am giving later this week. As a result, I have been thinking about picture books and tweens. There are many picture books that are perfectly suited for tweens...especially those with out of the ordinary non-fiction themes. Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle is just one of those books.

Cromwell Dixon was a kid who loved to invent things. From a rowboat with extra oars, to a mechanical fish made out of clocks, Cromwell's imagination ran wild. He read all that he could about the inventions of the day, but he was especially captivated with the flying machines. Cromwell had been up in a hot air balloon in 1904 and by 1907, fourteen year old Cromwell decided that he wanted to be an aeronaut and began to build his own flying machine.

Now, many inventors have parents who do not support their passion, but Cromwell was very lucky. His mother supported him 100%. His design was based around his bicycle. He rebuilt it so that pedaling meant that propellers would turn and turning the handlebars would make the rudder in the back go left or right. Cromwell's mother sewed up a grand silk balloon that would support the bicycle and its rider!

A tragic set back would probably have made many teens give up, but Cromwell and his mother started sewing again, and he was convinced that his new design would be even better than the last.

Tweens will be captivated with this story about the original "balloon boy". Cromwell is an example of resilience embodied and his stick with it attitude is inspiring to us all. John Abbott Nez's illustrations perfectly set the tone of the time, and readers will pour over the details of the air ships and the blueprints. At the end, there is a mini-biography titled, "This is a True Story" that gives readers a bit more detail.

Why not consider some picture books for the tweens in your life?

The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer's Bright Ideas and Brand New Colors by Chris Barton illustrated by Tony Persiani The picture book biography of the two brothers who developed, by accident mostly, the process by which hippies were able to enjoy black light posters and the military was able to signal aircraft from great distances. Okay, that's a bit flip, but while the subject is unique what

Guest Blogger Rachael Walker is the Outreach Consultant for Reading Rockets, a national multimedia initiative which aims to inform and inspire parents, teachers, childcare providers, and others who touch the life of a child by providing comprehensive, accessible information on how to teach kids to read and help those who struggle. Rachael began her career in children’s literacy at Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), has also served as a consultant to the NEA’s Read Across America campaign, and was most recently the Executive Director of Reach Out and Read of Metro DC.

I know that in many parts of the country, kids have already started the new school year, but in our house, we still have a few weeks of summer to enjoy. So while I planned to blog today about back-to-school resources, I just couldn’t make myself do it! I just need a little more time to mentally prepare for the return of the daily packing of lunches, the establishing of the homework routine, and the morning scramble for shoes and backpacks.

There are still so many items left on our summer to do list. You may want to think about some of them for your own last days of leisure or incorporate these activities into the new school year:

• We’ve got a few day trips for book lovers yet to take: Manassas, for both my husband who has spent the summer reading Battle Cry of Freedom and my son who enjoyed Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run. We’ll also make a trip to the National Museum of American History and check out the Toying with Invention exhibit as my youngest has been enjoying Steven Caney’s Invention Book and working on many of his own creations this summer.
• There’s lots of writing still on our list. Everyone in our family has summer birthdays and there are a few thank you notes still outstanding. I’m not getting many volunteers for letter writing. When it comes to writing in the summer, a few rounds of Mad Libs seems to be the favorite pencil and paper activity, though I also recommend the online version to help build up a good Mad Lib vocabulary.
• We have certainly done quite a bit of it this summer, but reading never leaves the to do list. Alex Rider has fired several imaginations in our household as has the 39 Clues and the Warriors series. Summer always gives us more time to read aloud so my husband hopes to finish up Cornelia Funke’s Inkdeath before the school year begins and I have just started reading aloud Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy to our youngest in the hopes that he’ll better appreciate the state fair this year.

Must add to the to do list for the kids: finish the summer math packet. Summer reading loss I don’t think we’ll have to worry about.

Without these gadgets to straighten out you life you're doomed. Do you here me? DOOMED, you better order them directly...

The world itself has become hectic and life a fast-forward motion picture.  Wherever one goes, everything must be done speedily.  This is because nowadays, almost in all families, both parents go to work, departing early and arriving late.  The indoors work is thus kept pending.  Beforehand, the speed of life was not so emphasized upon.  Only the husband was the bread-winner and so the housewife had all the time to cook, clean and complete the household chores.  Today, the parents, after a hard day’s work, must speed up and prepare something to eat for their children.  People, therefore, have to follow the new trend and adjust to a new lifestyle.

Image via Wikipedia

The on-the-move lifestyle includes the eating of fast food among others.  But even if “fast food” as we call it, people do not have time to eat a rounder properly; they either gulp it behind the driving wheel or eat it watching the television at the same time.  To speed themselves up and save time, people make use of sophisticated machines such as microwaves to cook food quickly, portable computers to complete office work….  After a speedy week, to supposedly relax themselves, people listen to music now – quick, hasty music.  It is the hard rock and technos.  This music is a great contrast to the old ones that were the real relaxing music.

These small factors contribute to big inventions, speeding the transport rate.  Long ago, there were ox carts and slow trains as means of transport.  With the evolution of science and technology and due to the speed revolution, buses, cars, motorcycles, aeroplanes as well as super-jet trains travelling at two hundred kilometres per hour were introduced.  Their need of fast transport then was satisfied.  As their burden of work grew heavier, the need of a quick means of communication was also felt.

Scientists and inventors put their heads together.  To support the level of speed of life and promote development, they abolished the hand-over of letters on horse-backs and established the links between one place and the whole world.  Speed developed the fax, email methods.  Through speed, the distance between the countries of the world is now lessened and so this helps the economic development of countries.

Speed may prove to be dangerous also.  The speed of a car, an aeroplane, a ship can endanger the lives of many people, if not properly controlled.  Cases of accidents where people had died are numerous.  For instance, the well-known ship “Titanic” sank as a result of sailing at full speed and thus inevitably crash into an iceberg.  How rightly has one stated that “haste makes waste”.

Image via Wikipedia

For the color blindFor a windy day Backup system For you about to Baroque For the one curious how their neck looks Orange glasses For looking at skyscrapers Duo glasses, for young lovers Rocket glasses For people scared of large things I'm featured in Lines and colors, a blog I've been following for the last couple of years. I feel very honored to be featured here

Never underestimate the awesome powers of modern science...

I love “nonfiction” poetry—poems that tell true stories, so to speak, so I was eager to see Lee Bennett Hopkins’s new anthology, Incredible Inventions illustrated by Julia Sarcone-Roach (HarperCollins, 2009). And I was not disappointed. As the title suggests, the 16 poems feature a variety of inventions including jigsaw puzzles, blue jeans, roller coasters, drinking straws, basketball game, fig newtons, ferris wheels, the escalator, hair brushes, crayons, popsicles, band-aids, traffic signals, kitty litter, Velcro, and running shoes. Kid-friendly topics, for sure!

The featured poets include Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Joan Bransfield Graham, Drew Lamm, John Sullivan, Sandra Gilbert Brueg, Elizabeth Upton, Kristine O’Connell George, Constance Andrea Keremes, Ann Whitford Paul, J. Patrick Lewis, Alice Schertle, Marilyn Singer, Maria Fleming, Fran Haraway, and Lee himself. For me, there were several new names in this group. Very promising voices! Which one to share as a sample? I think kids will enjoy this tribute to their favorite garment: Blue jeans!

Ode to Blue Jeans
by Rebecca Kai Dotlich

See them strolling
in their jeans
from subway ads
to magazines.

Rock ‘n’ rollers.
Construction crews.
Everybody
loves their blues.

Faded, torn,
shabby, new,
with cowboy boot
or tennis shoe,

ranchers, writers,
racers, teens,
the world’s in love
in love…

with JEANS.

Hopkins, Lee Bennett. (Comp.) 2009. Incredible Inventions. Illus. by Julia Sarcone-Roach. New York: HarperCollins, p.6.

This is a first book for the illustrator Julia Sarcone-Roach and her paintings for each poem are energetic and expansive, covering the page from edge to edge. The gorgeous blue painting for “The Ferris Wheel” is my favorite—it’s positively Van Gogh-ish!

You definitely need to check out the notes in the “Behind the Inventions” section along with the poems because here you get the factual background information that expands or confirms the details shared in each poem. Plus, I discovered that the poem inventions are presented in chronological order, with a fun cartoon timeline showing each item's origin dated from 1766 (jigsaw puzzles) to 1964 (running shoes).

For a related collection, look for Joyce Sidman’s book, Eureka! Poems About Inventors (Millbrook 2002), with sixteen poems describing a range of people who have created something new through imagination, investigation, and pure persistence, with subjects such as scientist Marie Curie and the inventor of the Frisbee. Link these poems with the fascinating profiles of incidental inventions in Charlotte Foltz Jones’ nonfiction books Mistakes That Worked (Doubleday 1994) and Accidents May Happen (Delacorte 1998) or Judith St. George’s humorous nonfiction picture book, So You Want to Be An Inventor? (Puffin 2005). Seek out J. Patrick Lewis’s poems about famous accomplishments in A Burst Of Firsts (Dial 2001) or the fun facts and factoids in the clever poems of The World’s Greatest: Poems (Chronicle, 2008) for another invention connection.

And for the record, on this day in history…
Lee Bennett Hopkins was born!
Happy birthday, Lee!

Image credit: www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Just some minor inventions for helping you avoid walking
Uni motor cycle

Jet propelled boot

Race skateboard

Practically nothing has happened to western cutlery since the renaissances, when the fork was introduced. If you want to experience the thrill of eating again why not give our new series a go?

Grand Harvest (fork)

the Plow (knife)

fear of drowning (spoon)

Guaranteed to frighten the most hardened.

How happy am I to find a picture book that melds perfectly with a curriculum piece?! Woot, indeed.

Stormy is a hardworking railroad man. But he has one problem. He cannot find a hat to suit his needs. The derby that he has been wearing, goes flying off his head every time that he leans out the window! So Stormy decides to ask his friends for some suggestions. After all, there are hats for policemen, sailors and coat miners...why not for railroad men?

First on the list comes the suggestion from cowboy Tex. A cowboy hat is what Stormy needs! The bonnet strings will keep it from flying off. But Stetson's are tall, wide and white. These all cause problems for poor Stormy.

Next comes the suggestion from Nate the pressman. He thinks a folded newspaper hat is exactly what Stormy needs. But, a paper hat and sparks? You can imagine the results.

On to fireman Mike's suggestion of his fire hat. This seems like the perfect solution. Too heavy to blow off, easy to clean, fireproof! All of these attributes equal hot and heavy, which ends up with Stormy with a headache.

Between all of the suggestions, Stormy's wife Ida has been trying without success to get a word in edgewise. She is, after all, a seamstress who has some great ideas about how to get Stormy the hat he needs. Will Stormy finally listen.

This true story of the invention of the railroad worker hat by Stormy and Ida Kromer. With reference to American tall tales, and a little feminism thrown for good measure, Stormy's Hat is a delightful read aloud with a little something for everyone!