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Science Solves It!®

by Michelle Knudsen

It's gross! It's aliiiive! After a moldy mix-up, Jeff has to do the unthinkable—and fast!

Genres: Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

I'm the New York Times best-selling author of more than 50 books for young readers for all ages, including the award-winning picture book Library Lion, which was selected by Time magazine as one of the 100 Best Children's Books of All Time. My other books include the picture book Marilyn's Monster (NPR's Best Books of 2015) and the novels The Dragon of Trelian (VOYA Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers) and Evil Librarian (YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults; Sid Fleischman Humor Award Winner). My newest book is LUIGI, THE SPIDER WHO WANTED TO BE A KITTEN (a new picture book with the wonderful Kevin Hawkes, published 3/5/2024). Next up will be INTO THE WILD MAGIC, a new middle grade fantasy novel coming August 2025.

I also work as a freelance editor and teach in Lesley University's MFA program in writing for young people.

Reviews

[Mallory White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was pretty decent in dealing with friendships. Author Michelle Knudsen does a great job in showing how to solve problems in the right way. Jeff who is the younger brother in the story believes that his older brother Wayne is a little too messy. When looking under his bed one day, Jeff finds several items with mold on them While thinking about how gross it is that his brother has moldy items, Jeff throws the items away immediately. After some time, Jeff hears his mother talking about the science fair project Wayne is attempting that deals with mold. Jeff asks his best friend Kayla to help him come up with a solution. After some trips to the store, they decide to start all over on the project, and they let these items grow mold. At the end of the story we learn that Wayne had already turned in the project, so it was not a huge deal. I liked this book for several reasons. The illustrator does a great job in gaining the audiences attention and also adds scientific facts and vocab at the side of the margins. Jeff and Kayla are best friends and they are of different races and gender which can help the students see that friendships can all be different. I loved the fact that their was a problem and a solution. This book shows that if students make a mistake, they can think of a solution and think critically in what to do next. I believe you could read this book to your students before attempting "a moldy" science project. You can ask the students to think about what items might develop mold faster than the others, and have them all bring in an item. Students love hands on activities and I believe they would love participating in a moldy experiment. As far as friendship in this book, the illustrator does a great job in showing the differences between Jeff and Kayla, but the author does not state anything about the differences or why they are friends. Even though the author does not explain this well, that is when the teacher can come in and ask if anyone notices the differences between the friends in this book. It is always great to think outside of the box and ask your own questions as a teacher.

[Stacey Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adorable fiction story about a young Caucasian boy named Jeff. When Jeff’s older brother goes away to camp, Jeff decides to clean their messy room. Jeff finds old food containers and throws them out. Later, Jeff finds out that his brother has been working on a science project about mold. Jeff calls his best African American friend over for help. Together they try to recreate the experiment before Wayne gets back. This is a great book to read about science, cleanliness, and teamwork. The students will enjoy coming up with different ways for solving this problem. The author is a Caucasian woman named Michelle Knudsen. The author displays a marvelous story about friends from different cultural backgrounds. They are working and depending on each other to solve a huge problem.

[Shamya Peeples · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a good book for the younger kids between ages 6-9. This book has a problem and a solution which I thought the author did really well with that because you have the younger brother who is tired of the older brothers mess which is causing the mold, then the younger brother and his friend figure out how to turn the mold into a science project and then it goes from there. This book was good for friendships and the characters that the author had in the book everyone can relate not just the kids on having some messy people in our area and what can happen when you are too messy.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Moldy Mystery, this story is about a younger brother cleaning up his older brother’s messy room and accidently throwing out his science project on mold. The younger brother and his friend research mold to recreate the science project. This book could be read before starting a science lesson on mold.

[Deirdrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this children's book to be quite humorous, indeed! It was cleverly written, involved characters whom all children can relate to, and had a good ending. Moreover, even though it caters to elementary school children, there are educational elements within the story (won't spoil the juicy bits) which older children and adults can learn from.

[Ashlin]

This story could teach students about consequences and hard work. Students could discuss the importance of asking for permission before doing something. Also, this story could be used as an intro to the discussion of mold in science.

[Katie Swart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Mystery
Grades: 1st through 3rd
I think this book is unique because it is a mystery for younger children which I feel like there are not as many of. I also think this book would be good when doing a science unit on mold! It talks a lot about how it happens and what to expect.

[Schmobes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Level 3+. I liked that there was some science incorporated into the book. A good amount of information about mold blended with a fun story. Kiddo enjoyed it, though not as much as some books.

[Bern · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are great for casual homeschool science lessons.

[Nicoleta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce frate minunat! Și ce prietenă bună!

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

1072nd - 2011