Transformed: How Everyday Things Are Made

by Bill Slavin, Jim Slavin

CDs start out as sand. Blackboard chalk comes from tiny sea creatures. The objects all around us --- every single product in the world --- is made from elements found in nature. Discover how nature is transformed into more than 60 things we eat, drink, play with, wear or use every day. Technology changes constantly, but the stages raw materials go through to become finished objects remain much the same. On every page of this big book, these processes are described and illustrated step by step. The text and artwork combine playfulness with encyclopedic attention to detail. This unique and fascinating book will inform and entertain every step of the way. Includes a glossary, index and further resources to help children, parents and teachers.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Childrens

160 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2007

About the author

Multiple award-winning illustrator Bill Slavin was born in Belleville, Ontario. His illustration work includes the Stanley series of books (Stanley’s Party, Stanley at Sea, etc.) with Linda Bailey as well as a number of other beloved children’s books including Robert Heidbreder’s Drumheller Dinosaur Dance (co-illustrated with Esperança Melo) and his own picture book, Who Broke the Teapot?!

Bill lives in Millbrook, Ontario with his wife, Esperanca Melo. Recently he has returned to his childhood love of comics and graphic novels, writing and illustrating the trilogy for kids, Elephants Never Forget, as well as the Mordecai Crow trilogy.

Secrets of Jarrow, his first book with Renegade, is now joined by the second in the series, Quid Pro Crow. Bill is currently illustrating the third book in the Mordecai Crow trilogy.

Reviews

[Shiloah]

We enjoyed this book as a family read aloud. The kids learned so much and now know how a lot of everyday things are made.

[Ollie]

Для дітей від 3 до 103 років =)

[伊特阿卡迪亚]

工业社会的启蒙书

[Erin]

We utilized this book for our Hogwarts classes: Transfiguration & Muggle Studies. It was very interesting to see how the everyday items that we use were produced. Our only complaint is that the images are cartoony, with tiny humanoids taking materials through the various production steps. Unfortunately, that became confusing when trying to understand the scale in those production steps. Photographs would have been much more effective, or they could have just left out the little human cartoons. 3 stars overall.

[Mandy]

Summary:
Find out how many everyday items are made such as things for fun, household objects, food, clothing, and what natural resources are used for. A very informative book that kept me pleasantly educated and entertained!

[Sarah Ziskend]

This book could be used to teach sequencing. I'm old do a whole group lesson read aloud and then break children intogeoupsnthat must then show thensequencing of how something is made. This would work best in a 4th or 5th grade classroom.

[Miguel]

not quite as good as entire books devoted to each topic, but the illustrations are comical yet accurate and emphasize similarities between different manufacturing processes. My daughter was enthralled.

[Doaa]

بعد متابعه سلسله How it's made كان الكتاب مخيب بعض الشيئ .
شعرت ان الكتاب قديم اثناء القراءه، وفكره الرسوم بدل من الصور الحقيقيه لم تكن موفقه ..
الشيء الممتع في الكتاب هو النبذه التاريخيه القصيره عن كيفيه نشأه هذه الاشياء .

[Devlin]

What I liked the most is the little people doing evryyhing insted of mashines

[Karen]

great for sequencing

[Abraham Ray]

good book of how things are made!

[Alex]

Love it. Something to delight equally kids and adults. Who knew how these everyday things are constructed?

[Gabe]

This book is a good read, but some of the pictures are hard to understand. I wish they were made better, but all in all it was a great book

[Eric]

This book is pretty cool. Not my favorite, but I still think it is cool. The book is cool.

[☆]

Fun and wonderfully illustrated: one can't help but imagine Slavin's quirky illustrations coming to life. No less magical reading than when I first stumbled upon it in elementary school.