Mid-September 2023 will see Mazie’s Amazing Machines by Sheryl Haft and Jeremy Holmes. And I will be finding a finished copy. Not so much because I loved this book, but I need to have the final product in hand and not read online via a reader copy, as that was not the way to read it (at least for me). I need to feel this book, and slowly explore the details that hide when you are reading on a small phone screen.
The idea of this picture book is along the lines of The Questioneers books (Rosie, Iggy, Aaron, Ada, and Sophia) by Andrea Beaty. We read about how machines can help us, and how imagination can make anything happen. However, this is more fanciful and less mechanical (after all something tells me “ribble” and “bing bang boom!” are not technical terms). It is a fun story, that will not appeal to all, but there is something there for everyone. The art of Holmes is “cover image” all the way (or judge this book by the cover). It tells you all you need to know. The colors (or lack thereof) that are used, along with the minimalistic (not simplistic as they can get involved) details, all get the job done.
Overall, there is an audience for this book, but I did not exactly make the cut. Maybe it was the fact the artwork looks too classic but has a modern idea (a female doing science, engineering) as well that did not mesh for me. Maybe I was not in the right mood for it or (as said) not reading it in the right format.
