Total Pageviews

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Pirate, Viking & Scientist, written and illustrated by Jared Chapman. Little, Brown and Company, Hachette. 2014. $19.00 ages 4 and up

"Viking was seething.
Pirate was fuming.
Scientist was
uncomfortable ...
... until his scientific
instinct kicked in.
What could smooth things
over between his friends?"

Science fair is over for this year; still, this would be a great book to read to those who see joy in all things science! On the front endpapers, young Scientist provides readers with a list of those words that mean something special to him.

First, we meet his friend Pirate, and are privy to see the young boy using his scientific methods to score touchdowns with a cannon rather than a kicker. Moving on, we meet Viking who loves music and is skilled at archery. The text merely mentions that the young boy is friends with the other two. The boldly colored artwork provides the rest of the story.

The trouble is between Viking and Pirate. They cannot be friends. Scientist's birthday does not provide enough incentive to change that. Pirate brings a gift. Viking brings the same gift ... only bigger. Pirate's welcome is underwhelming for the young scientist who is their friend.

Then, Scientist uses all of his scientific skills to make a difference:

"Scientist had a hypothesis.
Maybe BIRTHDAY CAKE was the answer."

Maybe that cake will put a smile on both angry faces! Nope, that won't work. Now, Scientist is becoming irritated. He won't give up. Is there another solution? PARTY GAMES  are not the solution he is seeking either. Perhaps his calculations are misguided. In a final attempt to take two people who have so much in common and help them find a compromise, Scientist will try one more time.

Using all of his scientific acumen, and having his friends answer a few questions, he is able to find common ground and acceptance. Now, they are all friends! That's the way to get a modicum of scientific learning front and center. Do it with aplomb, and good deal of brawling before finally considering commonalities. There's the ticket!

No comments:

Post a Comment