How Machines Work: Zoo Break!
by David Macaulay (Author)
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Publishers Weekly
Expertly blending comedy with a substantive look at physics and mechanics, Macaulay stages a lesson about simple machines at a zoo, where a sloth and shrew are attempting to escape. Short paragraphs explain the basic engineering behind levers, wheels, pulleys, and more ("A lever is simply a bar that tilts on a fulcrum") as the two animals comically test out their contraptions in episodic sequences (readers can even build a seesaw and try to launch the sloth and shrew over a fence). A final, foldout spread reveals their most elaborate machine yet, which resembles a roller coaster and incorporates all of the devices they have used so far. It doesn't work as they hoped, but readers will be delighted to see their ingenuity rewarded. Ages 7-10. (Nov.)
Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
"Youngsters will be eager to get their hands on this simply amazing book." — Booklist (Starred Review)
"Expertly blending comedy with a substantive look at physics and mechanics." — Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"With much use of flaps, pop-ups, and inset booklets, the author expands on the comical plotline with glimpses of construction machinery, hydraulics, and several types of levers in action." — Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
..".a vivid interactive introduction to simple scientific principles all neatly wrapped up in a story." — TheGuardian.com
"This ingenious, entertaining, sturdily built book is sure to get the wheels turning for young engineers-in-the-works." — Shelf Awareness for Readers
"As robust and inviting a physical book as you can possibly get." — The New York Times Book Review
"Illustrated with humor and affection...easily keeps the reader's attention." — BoingBoing.net
"In today's STEM-centric world, it can be difficult to sift through all the available STEM books and find the perfect introductory text for children... How Machines Work: Zoo Break! does just that." — The Children's Book Review
David Macaulay received his bachelor of architecture degree from Rhode Island School of Design. In January 1973, Macaulay went to France to work on the first of his twenty-five books, Cathedral. He then constructed a colonial Roman town (City, 1974), erected monuments to the Pharaohs (Pyramid, 1975), dissected the maze of subterranean systems below and essential to every major city (Underground, 1976), built a medieval fortress (Castle, 1977), and dismantled the Empire State Building (Unbuilding, 1980). Macaulay is perhaps best known for The Way Things Work (1988). It was followed by Black and White (1990) for which he won the 1991 Caldecott Medal. A revised edition of The Way Things Work was published in 1998 followed by Building Big, Mosque, and The Way We Work (2008).
Sheila Keenan is an established author of fiction and nonfiction, including Greetings from the 50 States; Animals in the House: A History of Pets and People; O, Say Can You See? America's Symbols, Landmarks, and Inspiring Words; and Gods, Goddesses, and Monsters: A Book of World Mythology. Her work Dogs of War is a graphic novel of historical fiction based on the role of dogs in the military.
