Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! (the Inventive Rube Goldberg—a Life In Comics, Contraptions, And Six Simple Machines)

By (author) Thimmesh, Catherine; Illustrated by McCloskey, Shanda
Short description/annotation:
A joyfully illustrated picture book biography of Rube Goldberg for STEM-loving children and the many people who enjoy doing simple tasks the hard way.
Description:

A joyfully illustrated picture book biography of Rube Goldberg for STEM-loving children and the many people who enjoy doing simple tasks the hard way.

Award-winning author Catherine Thimmesh’s irresistibly engaging text and artist Shanda McCloskey’s energetic, cartoon-style artwork introduce readers to the life and creative legacy of Rube Goldberg, the world-famous inventor of crazy contraptions. A rollicking educational kids'' book that is part biography, part inspiration, and part physics how-to, Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! posits the ultimate question … why do anything the simple way? (Especially if, for instance, there is a catapult option?)

Because, of course, there are lots of things you can do the simple way:
Set an alarm,
flip a switch,
open a door,
toast some bread . . .
 
But what if, instead, you did things the Rube Goldberg way?
Endlessly entertaining,
needlessly complex,
and achieving a delicate balance of physics, humor, and excitement!

The book includes an overview of the six simple machines that power most of Goldberg’s inventions and puts the tools for making real-life Rube Goldberg machines right into readers’ hands. It’s the perfect thing to spark the imaginations of budding inventors, artists, and thinkers of all ages—because the most promising relationships with science start not with a textbook but with the willingness to break stuff and ask silly questions!

Biographical note:
Catherine Thimmesh is an award-winning author, speaker, and creativity educator. Her creative children’s nonfiction titles have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Sibert Medal for Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon and a Sibert Honor for Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild. Madam President was a New York Times Notable book, and her bestselling Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women won the IRA Children’s Book Award and was followed by Girls Solve Everything: Stories of Women Entrepreneurs Building a Better World. You can watch her discuss the importance of creativity in her TEDx Talk, “Creativity in the Classroom (in 5 minutes or less!),” on YouTube or her website, catherinethimmesh.com. Catherine lives near Minneapolis, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. 

Shanda McCloskey is the award-winning author and illustrator of STEM-friendly picture books like Doll-E 1.0, a 2019 NSTA Best STEM Book Winner, and T-Bone the Drone, a Sunshine State Young Readers Award Jr. Nominee. She lives in Ball Ground, Georgia, and enjoys visiting schools. Learn more at shandamc.com.