Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! The Inventive Rube Goldberg by Catherine Thimmesh and Shanda McCloskey - ADVISABLE

Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! The Inventive Rube Goldberg by Catherine Thimmesh, illustrated by Shanda McCloskey. 50 pages. NON-FICTION., Chronicle, MAY 2025. $20. 9781452144221

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS, HS - ADVISABLE

APPEALS TO: SOME

While formatted to look like a picture book, Thimmesh has actually written a very dense book that is not a book you will want to read aloud - at least not in one sitting. Any teacher who covers simple machines will find plenty of information within to support teaching and illustrating the concepts. I learned a lot - i had no idea that a broom is a lever, for example! While there is biographical info about Goldberg interspersed, I wouldn’t call this a biography. 

Cindy, Middle School Librarian, MLS