Go! Magazine posted on September 30, 2016 For Stuart Nielsen, writing is just a side project. But to his readers, he is best known as the author of the Amazing Bridge Building Robot Adventures, an on-going series currently made up of seven fully-illustrated books and a “mini-book” about a robot dog named Emma. Each book…
posted on August 30, 2016 The Little Engine that Could is an illustrated children’s book by Watty Piper, a pen name of Arnold Munk, owner of the Platt & Munk publishing firm. Platt & Munk first published the story in the United States in 1930. In 2007, the National Education Association awarded The Little Engine…
Go! Magazine posted on March 3, 2015 Age range 0-5 years What to expect Nielson begins by introducing the team of Bridge-its, also known as “Bits.” These Bits, including the robot dog Emma, are steam powered robots that live near the Big River. There is one wooden bridge that crosses the Big River, which connects…
Go! Magazine posted on January 30, 2015 Age range 0-5 years What to expect Stuart Nielson begins his story about NieKo, the bridge building robot, by telling readers that there are over 600,000 bridges in the United States. He tells us that NieKo is the perfect robot for building bridges due to his height, heavy…
Go! Magazine posted on April 8, 2010 Imagine a world where the updates are even more instantaneous. Imagine a world where you don’t even need a computer to receive them. Imagine a world in which you are directly connected to the Feed. M.T. Anderson’s novel Feed, published in 2004 by Candlewick Press, follows a group…
Go! Magazine posted on February 14, 2009 On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union shocked the world by being the first country to successfully launch an artificial satellite into space. Sputnik I was a terrific coup for the Soviets. Soviet Premier Nikita Krushchev wanted to follow up immediately with another success. It had to be…
Go! Magazine posted September 12, 2008 What would life be like if you couldn’t walk, or feed yourself, or clean up after yourself? Head Case, a novel for teens by Sarah Aronson, gives a hard-nosed glimpse of such a life. Frank Marder, the 17 year old narrator, tells readers from the get-go what they’re in for:…
Go! Magazine posted on March 15, 2008 A glimpse at the past Listening for Lions Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan starts in Africa in 1919. Here 13 year old Rachel Sheridan is happy helping her missionary parents in their hospital. She’s never lived anywhere else, and she’s never wanted to. Then the influenza epidemic…
Go! Magazine posted on September 21, 2007 Brit’s summer starts with a thud. She’s had her driver’s license for 11 days, but she has no car to drive. Her parents have dumped her at her 86 year old grandmother’s house for two weeks while they go on vacation, and Nannie, Brit’s grandmother, doesn’t have a…
Go! Magazine posted on April 17, 2007 Uncommon Carriers So what’s it really like to drive a semi-truck, or a coal train, or a river barge? John McPhee, author of 27 books and staff writer at The New Yorker magazine, went to find out. He listened and observed from the passenger seat of a 65…