“STOP AND THINK!”
That’s what you do when you have a challenge, your first solution doesn’t work, and you need to slow down and think of a new one.
Rosie Revere is an engineer, and a member of Andrea Beaty’s popular Questioneers series. She and her compatriots – scientist Ada Twist and architect Iggy Peck – love to solve engineering challenges together. They combine fun and wit with teamwork and problem-solving ingenuity.
Rosie and her friends come to the aid of her great-great aunt Rose, who happens to be a member of the Blue River Riveters: “the smartest, sassiest, toughest bunch of airplane builders you ever saw.” That’s right, great-great aunt Rose was an actual Rosie the Riveter in World War II! She and her friends built airplanes for American airmen to fly during the war.
When Rosie learns Rose’s friend, June, can’t participate in the annual Art-A-Go-Go competition (thanks to two broken wrists), they get to work devising a solution dubbed the Paintapalooza, which will enable June to paint.
“She felt a storm approaching. A brainstorm!”
Engineers know that your first solution isn’t always the one that works. It takes the Questioneers nine iterations until they get the Paintapalooza just right. Along the way, there are fun and hijinks, and no shortage of jokes and stories. Plenty of time is spent with the Riveters, who are indeed raucous, and share tales from their time in the war-time factories – as well as some music and culture of the time. Expect some dancing! Of course, Rosie and her team also experience all the STE(A)M lessons you’d expect about learning from failure and perseverance.
Rosie and the Questioneers learn about rivets and valves. Your students, in exploring this book together, will have the opportunity to experience all the things Rosie does: repurposing old equipment, building Rube Goldberg machines, meeting actual Rosie the Riveters, designing their own “We Can Do It!” posters, and dancing the boogie woogie.
