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Jon Scieszka's Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor is a funny science adventure for 8 year olds about a kid inventor whose robots build themselves.
Frank Einstein is staying with his Grampa Al, above Grampa's Fix It! repair shop in the town of Midville. The shop isn't making much money and the bills are piling up. So Frank plans to win the Midville Science Prize, and its hundred-thousand cash prize.
His entry is a SmartBot, a robot that can think and learn. He tries to bring it to life with a bolt of lightning. It doesn't work. The robot crashes to the floor in pieces and Frank goes to bed disappointed.
But in the night, a stray spark does what the lightning couldn't. By morning there are TWO robots in the lab, and they've built themselves out of junk.
Klink is a Shop-Vac with a glass dome for a head. He's very logical and (he insists) never sarcastic. Klank is mostly trash can, with the brain of a HugMeMonkey doll, and he loves nothing more than a knock-knock joke. Picture a terribly serious robot being made to answer "Boo who?" and you'll get the idea.
Then there's T. Edison, Frank's rival, a kid in size-five wing-tip shoes. His family's company plans to take over Grampa Al's shop if Frank doesn't win. His chief financial officer is a chimpanzee in pinstriped trousers called Mr Chimp, who talks in sign language and snacks on ants.
The real science is part of the fun. Counting the seconds between lightning and thunder to work out how far away the storm is. How brain cells connect up. Why energy matters. It's all dropped in lightly, in between the jokes.
Grampa Al is a joy too. When Frank takes the toaster apart for robot parts, most grown-ups would give a long lecture. Grampa Al just says "Great." Wouldn't every young inventor love a grandad like that?
If you've got a reader who takes things apart to see how they work, or asks "why?" about absolutely everything, Frank will feel like a kindred spirit.
If they're after more of Jon Scieszka's science silliness, try AstroNuts Mission One. It stars a team of superpowered animals made out of oddball bits and parts, crash-landing nose first on a planet covered in plants.
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