Maker Girl and Professor Smarts Book Review
This summer, WICO friend and collaborator as well as the author of Hex Allen and the Clanksmiths, Jasmine Florentine is releasing a new book on August 5th that combines elements of graphic novel and tinkerable instructable called Maker Girl and Professor Smarts. I got a free review copy of the book from the publisher (MIT Kids Press) and wanted to share my thoughts and review. The book centers around two kids in a world where many people (but not them) have been granted superpowers causing an increase in superheroes and villains. They decide to use their powers of making and knowing things to make their city (and the world) a better place.
It’s such a good idea to combine an entertaining narrative story with project ideas using everyday materials. These two elements support each other and while I’ve seen many maker projects based off of kids books, but having the narrative and making paired like this really strengthens the connection. I had fun reading about the main characters and then once they ran into a “sticky situation” in the story I was more invested in making the hands-on project.
When I was working on The Tinkering Workshop, I came across a couple quotes a children’s book editors that I looked at for inspiration. Jenny Bowman writes, “Children want to read stories about other children who are a little bit older than themselves, who are participating in life experiences that mirror their own.” And editor Anna Bowles wrote, “children [want] stories where they are the heroes, driving the action, facing challenges, and making choices.” I feel like these two quotes perfectly describe Jasmine’s book and the tinkering process in general.
In Maker Girl and Professor Smarts, readers will feel connected to the characters, empowered to start making something for themselves and curious to find out what’s next, both in the story and in their journey as tinkerers. It’s the perfect book for the 7-10 year old (or older) reader/maker/superhero fan in your life and it would be a great addition to a makerspace library. I’m looking forward to seeing the next adventures of these soon-to-be classic tinkering heroes. Here’s the link to pre-order your copy and support this wonderful book.