Rosie Revere, Engineer, written by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts

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It's been a long wait for Rosie Revere, Engineer, a follow-up of sorts to the spectacularly supberb Iggy Peck, Architect written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by the fantastic David Roberts. And it was definitely worth the wait! Beaty and Roberts capture all that is wonderful about Iggy Peck, Architect, from the excellent rhyming text to the intricate, often hilarious artwork to the endearing protagonist who just NEEDS to build, and more in Rosie Revere, Engineer. Scroll to the bottom of this review to see how Zoe Toft, mom and author of the fantastic blog, Playing by the Book, read and enjoyed this book with her children then, inspired by Rosie, made their own feat of engineering. Every book review by Zoe comes with related craft ideas, songs and even games, sometimes.

Where Iggy wanted nothing more than to draft and build, his passion sometimes getting in the way of the rest of his life, Rosie faces a different challenge - a loss of confidence. She used to engineer all sorts of marvels that her family admired and enjoyed, including helium pants, as seen below.



But, one particular creation brings a response she was not expecting and Rosie puts her gadgets and gears out of sight, but not out of mind. But, a visit from her great-great-Aunt Rose inspires Rosie to go public with her engineering wonders once more.



While Rosie doesn't get the response she was hoping for, both from her creation and from Aunt Rose, she does get some really good advice from Aunt Rose the lifts Rosie's spirits...

























The allusions to Rosie the Riveter in Rosie Revere, Engineer are subtle, the author and illustrator instead choosing to give a nod in their dedication, which I love, and historical note that come at the end of the book. Beaty and Roberts write, "With gratitude to our parents' and grandparents' generation for doing what was needed when it was needed the most." The historical note talks about the contributions of millions of women during WWII, and how the scarf-wearing fictional character of Rosie the Riveter represented them. Even if your kids don't get the significance of this now, they will one day. Rosie Revere, Engineer will stay with them and be the kind of book that, as college students, they return to the bookstore, library or their parents' home to read again.


Source: Review Copy

Follow this link to Zoe's review at her blog, Playing by the Book, where you'll find videos of songs about engineering. a clip of the domino effect and some pictures and thoughts on junk engineering! Below, see what Zoe and her girls made after reading Rosie Revere, Engineer!



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