Disclaimer: I am a longtime friend of the author and have enjoyed much of his work, in support but also because he's very good at this.
Second Disclaimer: I am also a lifelong fan of Rube Goldberg's machine comics and some of his other work, so my friend being the author of this book is personal serendipity.
Brandon T. Snider's Rube Goldberg And His Amazing Machines is the story of a young genius and his brilliant friends as they go through a school year that includes a contraption convention, wacky teachers, annoying bullies, mysterious neighbors, best friends, new friends, g-g-g-ghosts, and, of course, schoolwork. The book is filled with colorful characters having interesting and often hilarious interactions in a story about kids being kids in their increasingly responsibility-filled world.
When I read books targeted towards young people, I try to remember the content that delighted me at that age, and I can honestly say that the young me would dug this. Rube is a wonderful character, a sweet kid trying his best to be a great friend and a great inventor. The irreverent humor, especially from his friend Boob, had me cackling out loud. Ed Steckley's wonderful art added another layer on to that humor. Steckley's larger illustrations include the type of minute details that I would have spent a lot of time staring at as a kid, trying to find all the hidden bits. (Yes, I did that reading this as an adult as well.) The biggest lessons Rube learns in this book are about friendship, and I'm glad that when I think of my favorite books as a kid, what I remember are the friendships between characters. Rube's friends Pearl and Boob are lovely.
Thomas Edison said "I haven't failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Rube Goldberg might have responded "I've found 10,000 ways that will work but no one would ever try." To me, both quotes are valid platforms for education and creativity, especially for STEM and the arts, and I am excited about the Goldberg family's efforts to promote education through new works based on Rube's unique way of thinking. Young people's minds are not yet limited by concepts like efficiency, best practices, and reality, and therefore are sources of some of the craziest and most wonderful ideas. Education is in the voyage, not in reaching a predetermined answer, and kids should have the opportunities to explore them all as Rube does in this book, and not just with his machines. His failures are appp
Ultimately, whether or not you care about Rube Goldberg or education, this is just a fun book with great characters. The audiobook (read by the author) together with the book creates a very fun read-along experience.
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