Rational Results

This spring many gardens are filled with newly opened daffodils, hyacinths, primroses and tulips alongside untreated lawns covered in the golden yellow of dandelion blossoms.  Let's just suppose for a moment you woke up this morning, bucket and digger in hand, to discover all those weeds had vanished.  Wherever you look, every single inch, is missing those tell-tale leaves and buds.

While you are rejoicing in this phenomenon, the thought this is too good to be true might move through your mind.  If we were to travel back in time during the American Revolution, we would encounter another series of events taking place in Paris, France, with questionable outcomes.  Mesmerized: How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France (Candlewick Press, March 10, 2015) written by Mara Rockliff with illustrations by Iacopo Bruno discusses the examination of Dr. Mesmer's work by the famous American.

While the American Revolution raged at home, Benjamin Franklin sailed to France.  His goal?  To charm young King Louis the Sixteenth and Queen Marie Antoinette.  Ben wanted them to send money and soldiers to America.

Several things caught Ben's attention upon his arrival in France.  People were cheerfully chatting about new discoveries.  Gas, hot air and electricity were top topics.  They were thrilled with Franklin's use of the scientific method during his kite experiment.  These subjects were quickly pushed into the background though by the work of Dr. Mesmer.

This man waved an iron wand said to carry an invisible force capable of creating a variety of flavors in the same single glass of water.  This force was proficient in curing whatever ailed an individual.  As you can well imagine, physicians of the day were in an uproar, reporting their displeasure to King Louie.  He, as king, needed a resolution to this quandary.

King Louie felt there was no one better able to shed light on this dilemma than his guest from America.  Putting into practice his successful approach, Franklin worked with Mesmer's assistant, Charles.  Comparisons were made between patrons' outcomes and Franklin's own to the force.  

An idea started to form.  Moving from his hypothesis to repeated tests, this man of science was able to report a surprising but well-founded conclusion to King Louie and Queen Marie Antoinette.  It would appear people needed to place more faith in themselves.  The mind does matter.


With a flair for presenting facts with engaging energy, Mara Rockliff tells the story of these events as well as including the process of the scientific method.  To further enlighten readers, she does not stop with Franklin's discovery but continues with the impact today of Dr. Mesmer's work and Benjamin Franklin's revelations.  Phrases such as

giggled at a gas...
gasped at the balloon...
gaga over...

involve readers through the use of alliteration.

Rockliff uses repetition and contrast to reinforce ideas.  The inclusion of French words takes us to the place and time in which these people interacted.  The overall feel of these combined techniques in the text is lively which is exactly how I like my history.  We need to believe these people could walk off the page or we could step into the moment with them.  Here is a sample passage.

Doctors were furious.  Their patients didn't
care about regular medicine anymore.  All they
wanted was a wave of Dr. Mesmer's wand.
                  The doctors griped---
                         and groused---
                                and fussed---
                                       and fumed.
Dr. Mesmer's force was not like electricity, a gas, 
or the hot air in a balloon, they told the king.
Non?                            Au contraire!
The reason nobody could see or touch it was...


The radiant rich red on the matching dust jacket and book case is as magnetic as the supposed force of Dr. Mesmer.  On the back, to the left, of the opened duo we see a hypnotic two-toned set of circles around the stylized capital letter m.  The layout on the front proposes the dichotomy between the two men; the one flamboyant in his presentation, the other down-to-earth in his methods.  On the opening and closing endpapers the same set of circles now in blue, yellow and teal are placed in a pattern signifying hypnosis.  In one of them is the capital letter M on a white background.  Beneath the title on the appropriate page the two men are standing on either side of The Baquet.  

Rendered in pencil and colored digitally Iacopo Bruno dazzles readers with an array of intricate illustrations ranging in size from double-page depictions to small decorative insets, bringing the past into the present.  The design of each element contributes to deft pacing.  Diverse fonts, shifting from print to script, in a variety of sizes supplies emphasis and emotional impact.

Body postures and facial expressions allude to the true personalities of the characters as well as furnishing humor.  The attention given to historical accuracy is evident.  One of my favorite pictures is the first two pages of this book.

Spanning both pages is a map with portions of North America, Europe and Africa done in muted blues, greens and browns.  A compass rose is placed in the upper left-hand corner.  There is a path traced across the ocean from Philadelphia to Paris with a schooner moving in the waves.  A squid with legs upraised is featured beneath it.  On top of Africa is a portrait of the King and Queen of France with their names in a ribbon of purple. Positioned over most of North America is the figure of Benjamin Franklin dressed in his signature attire, glasses moved to his forehead as he looks through a spyglass.  His body extends beneath the frame.  To his left is the text for this section with a Revolutionary soldier waving a flag above 1776.


Mesmerized:  How Ben Franklin Solved a Mystery that Baffled All of France written by Mara Rockliff with illustrations by Iacopo Bruno is outstanding; one of the best nonfiction picture books of 2015.  You will read it the first time for the narrative, the second time you will frequently pause to look at the images and the third time you will read it aloud for the pleasure of the combination of the two, narrative and images.  This is going to be a popular book with every reader.  At the conclusion of the story are pages devoted to an extensive author's note and sources.

To discover more about Mara Rockliff and Iacopo Bruno please follow the links attached to their names to access their websites.  To view an interior picture follow this link to the publisher's website.  Beneath the review at Shelf Awareness is an interview with Mara Rockliff and Iacopo Bruno about this title. At TeachingBooks.Net are additional resources about Mara Rockliff and Iacopo Bruno.


Please stop by Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see what books are highlighted by other participants in the 2015 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge this week.

Wonderful Watery Inspiration

If you were to stop right where you are right now, is there not at least one thing visible invented by someone?  Our lives are enhanced by the curiosity of others.  They looked and wondered if they could mimic something seen in nature.  They studied and asked themselves, why not?

If you've ever waded in a fresh water lake especially in the shallows at the right time of year, schools of minnows will swarm around your feet.  They scoot and scatter in a flash.  Unlike them we can only swim under water for a short time.   Ben Franklin's Big Splash: The Mostly True Story Of His First Invention (Calkins Creek, September 1, 2014) written by Barb Rosenstock with illustrations by S. D. Schindler introduces readers to something I'll bet they never knew about this man.  His creativity lead to making swimming on and under water more like fish for all of us.

Before the world knew the famous Doctor Benjamin Franklin, his neighbors knew him as Ben, the sturdy, saucy, smelly son of a soap-maker---the boy who, on sweltering summer days, snuck away from stirring soap vats and snipping candlewicks in his father's shop to head straight for the river.

Today no one, particularly in the northern Michigan town where I reside next to Lake Michigan, would give this activity a second thought but in Boston when Ben was a boy this was viewed as strange behavior.  Water was for water creatures and water plants not people.  Swimming was thought to contribute to illnesses.  

Contrary to popular belief Ben kept right on swimming.  He was as healthy as the proverbial horse.  There was something about being in the water, floating along, that made his thinking clearer.  His minded wandered as minds will do, daydreaming about his future and immediate circumstances.  One day young Ben asked himself,

Why can't I swim like a fish?

Perhaps he compared himself to the fish he noticed when swimming.  Sketching and working with wood at the shop, he fashioned himself a pair of fins for his hands.  I wonder what people thought when they saw Ben wearing those funny paddles as he dove into and moved around in the water.  Ben's thirst for finding the right way to move when swimming was not quenched yet, there were kinks to correct.

From the shop he walked to the river again; carrying this time four items, two paddles for his feet and two paddles for his hands.  If people thought Ben looked odd the first time, they must have shook their heads to see him the second time.  Was it a complete success?  To Ben every attempt was a success; every attempt was a chance to get better.  Lucky for all of us, he never stopped.

Barb Rosenstock is no stranger to research and familiarizing her readers with information about persons of history frequently left out of textbooks.  I've read and talked about her titles on Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, Thomas Jefferson, Joe DiMaggio and Wassily Kandinsky.  For this book she provides us with an author's note, a timeline of Benjamin Franklin's life, extensive sources, and source notes.

Throughout the narrative we are privy to gathered original quotes of Ben Franklin; each tied directly to Rosenstock's telling of this specific invention, his first known innovation.  Her writing style here is captivating replete with the use of alliteration.  Words describing each day's swim and work in the shop begin with the letter s.  More than once words are repeated bringing a spirited cadence to the tale.  Here is a sample passage.

Ben SPRINTED straight to the river,

STOOD on the bank,

STRIPPED OFF his clothes,

STRAPPED his feet into the sandals, 

STUCK his thumbs back in the swim fins, 

SPREAD his arms wide,

STOMPED his feet, and SPLASHED IN.

Rendered in ink and watercolor S. D. Schindler compliments the effervescence found in Barb Rosenstock's words with his illustrations.  The splash seen on the front is duplicated on the back of the matching dust jacket and book case.  I really like the design of placing Ben as the letter i on the front with the duck, fish, turtle, fish and his dog as a part of the water.  On the back an otter is shown in addition to fish, a frog and a duck.  In the center of the splash is a quote.

LET THE EXPERIMENT BE MADE.

---Ben Franklin 

The golden brown of the paddles supplies the color for the opening and closing endpapers.  

To contribute further to the text Schindler alternates his illustration sizes shifting from double-page spans to single pages to a series of smaller pictures grouped together to match the story's pace.  The layout of the images with the text flows beautifully.  A color palette favoring blues, greens, and browns with fine black lines accentuates the time period and natural surroundings where Ben swims.  

Two of my favorite series of illustrations are of Ben swimming and then Ben thinking about duplicating a fish's swimming in water as he swims.  In the first Ben matches the movements of a duck seeking food, an otter gracefully swimming, and a turtle slipping from a log.  In the second he is studying each aspect of fish; their shapes, fins, bellies, tails, and noses.  

I know readers are going to enjoy learning when reading Ben Franklin's Big Splash: The Mostly True Story Of His First Invention written by Barb Rosenstock with illustrations by S. D. Schindler.  The tempo of the narrative combined with the illustrations is as buoyant as floating on a summer's day in your favorite swimming hole and as much fun as drenching everything and everyone is sight as you jump into the water.  This is definitely a book to include in your classrooms and libraries.  

Please follow the links embedded in Barb Rosenstock's and S. D. Schindler's names to access their websites.  Each has more information about their other work.  Enjoy the book trailer below.

I am well aware that technically this book is considered historical fiction but Barb Rosenstock has included a significant amount of back matter for readers.

I am thrilled to be participating in educator Alyson Beecher's 2015 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted at her blog, Kid Lit Frenzy.  More participants are featured there today.  Please stop by to see what titles they are highlighting.