Let’s be honest – the routine of homeschooling can get really boring, so lately I’ve been trying to liven things up with books and experiments. What could be better than some books about experiments!
I had heard of the book “Abby Invents Unbreakable Crayons“, written by biomedical engineer, patent holder and If/Then Ambassador Dr. Arlyne Simon, but I hadn’t had the chance to read it until last week. When I learned that there was another “Abby Invents” book coming out I knew this was something that I wanted to incorporate into our curriculum. I’m extremely fortunate to know the author (I’m a total fangirl!) and she sent us a copy of the books, which she signed! (You can also get a signed copy, which is so so cool!)
The 1st book in the series is “Abby Invents Unbreakable Crayons”. In this book Abby is frustrated that her crayons always break, so she sets out to make unbreakable crayons. Despite experimenting with lots of different ways to make crayons Abby isn’t successful until she goes out and makes additional observations about things that are strong and don’t break. She then takes this new information into the lab and, after more experiments, is successful in creating unbreakable crayons.
The 2nd book, which has just been released, is “Abby Invents The Foldibot“. In this book Abby and her friend Miko want to invent a device that folds clothes. They go out to their community and survey people to see if this is something that would be useful and wanted. Then they make lots of observations about similar types of machines in order to decide what their folding machine should include. They build and experiment but can’t get their machine to work! Instead of giving up, Abby and Miko continue to observe things in their surroundings to get new ideas. They keep trying and trying and eventually they successfully build a Foldibot! (Um, Abby where can I buy a Foldibot – that would be so helpful with all this laundry!)
The writing in both books is accessible and understandable and the illustrations by Diana Necsulescu are bright, colorful and fun. The boys were enthralled. Their favorite part of both books was actually the last page where the author shares a photo of herself as a child and says “You can be an inventor too! Yes you! If Abby and I can do it you can too.”
I love this series.
I love that Abby keeps trying even when things are hard.
I love that these books show the iterative process of invention.
I love that the hero of the books is a Black girl. Representation matters.
I love that these books inspired my kids to get creative and try to invent things of their own.
I love these books, and you will too.
