Just Like Rube Goldberg

December 1, 2018

Gr 3-5-Everyone loves a Rube Goldberg machine, whether you've been mesmerized by a complicated toast-making, orange juice pouring contraption in a movie (you know the type), played Mousetrap, or worked on a slightly wacky high school science project to build one yourself. Aronson's picture book biography recounts moments from the life of an imaginative young boy turned discontented engineer turned driven newspaper cartoonist. Goldberg's observant nature and playful spirit produced decades of popular diagrams of totally unlikely and labyrinthine inventions for the world to enjoy. Aronson's narrative hovers between thoughtful biography and an inspirational tribute to Goldberg's work, which will leave readers wanting more information, especially about the cultural legacy of his ubiquitous cartoons. Neubecker's illustrations are animated and precise, connecting the unpredictable threads of the cartoonist's life to the spirit of his inventions. An image of a dizzyingly complicated sewer system calls to mind the early 20th-century milieu of discovery, invention, and rapid social change in which Goldberg's work was born and flourished. VERDICT Playful illustrations drive this loving biography for elementary-school-age inventors and dreamers.-Emilia Packard, Austin, TX

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2018
Rube Goldberg was a famous inventor who didn't invent anything.He was a shy and quiet kid who loved to draw and dreamed of becoming a great cartoonist. But his German-immigrant father was horrified: Artists were no better than beggars, so Rube went to Berkeley, studied engineering, and got a job with San Francisco's Department of Water and Sewers. He hated it, quit, and followed his dream of becoming a cartoonist for a newspaper, landing a job at the New York Evening Mail. He became famous for the cartoons of elaborate inventions he created from 1912 to 1932, a new one every two weeks, some taking as long as 30 hours to draw. Front and back endpapers reproduce several of Goldberg's black-and-white cartoons depicting zany chain reactions typical of his inventions. Neubecker's own full-color illustrations deftly re-create the comedy of the originals, with double-page spreads dramatizing how to put holes in doughnuts, how to turn off a light, and how to cut your own hair, adding diversity that's not seen in the originals. Goldberg appears in the illustrations as a white man; the streets of New York City are peopled with diverse citizens. Young readers will enjoy tracing the chain reactions for each invention and, in so doing, will be using "the most amazing machine in the universe: / the brain!"An engaging volume that will encourage readers to think outside the lines. (author's note, sources) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)

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February 15, 2019
Grades 1-4 Even as a boy, Rube Goldberg aimed to become a newspaper cartoonist, an ambition he set aside to please his father. He studied engineering, worked in the field for six months, and quit to take a lowly newspaper job while practicing his drawing. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed his city, he moved to New York and became a successful cartoonist, finding humor in sports, politics, and human nature. Still, his most popular character was an engineer at heart: a professor who invented complicated devices to accomplish simple tasks, contraptions known today as Rube Goldberg machines. In Aronson's well-paced, conversational text for this picture-book biography, she shows Goldberg working hard to achieve his dream and encourages readers to do the same. Neubecker uses digitally-enhanced ink-and-pencil drawings to create lively illustrations with a period vibe. He also offers relatively simple, amusing interpretations of Goldberg machines for the book's young audience. Reproductions of eight vintage Goldberg inventions, complete with directions and labeled diagrams, appear on the book's endpapers. An enjoyable introduction to an American original.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)