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Howtoons: Tools of Mass Construction
“This is a great addition to STEM collections, maker spaces, and elementary- through middle-school graphic-novel collections.” - Booklist
"Fine, fabulous stuff" - School Library Journal
Lurking in the corners of your garage, on the dusty shelves of hardware stores, and in your own trashcan are the tools and ingredients for creating your own adventures. Follow Celine and Tucker as they learn through play with over 50 DIY projects ! Challenged to make something "other than trouble," this brother-and-sister pair use everyday objects to invent toys that readers can build. Combining comics and real-life science and engineering principles , Howtoons are designed to encourage kids to become active participants in the world around them.
"...perfectly tuned to inspire creativity as well as promote good work habits in budding inventors and mechanical engineers alike." - Kirkus Review
"Geeks aren't born, they're made... and here's the instruction manual." - Wired Magazine
"Fine, fabulous stuff" - School Library Journal
Lurking in the corners of your garage, on the dusty shelves of hardware stores, and in your own trashcan are the tools and ingredients for creating your own adventures. Follow Celine and Tucker as they learn through play with over 50 DIY projects ! Challenged to make something "other than trouble," this brother-and-sister pair use everyday objects to invent toys that readers can build. Combining comics and real-life science and engineering principles , Howtoons are designed to encourage kids to become active participants in the world around them.
"...perfectly tuned to inspire creativity as well as promote good work habits in budding inventors and mechanical engineers alike." - Kirkus Review
"Geeks aren't born, they're made... and here's the instruction manual." - Wired Magazine
360 pages, Paperback
First published August 5, 2014
4 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Saul Griffith
7 books43 followersSaul Griffith (born 1974) is an Australian American inventor. He is the founder or co-founder of seven companies, including Otherlab (where he is currently CEO), Makani Power, and Instructables.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews
June 12, 2022
I don’t know when I was in school that I started hating science class, probably sometime around grade 6. It did not need to be a foregone conclusion though, as I have always loved science fiction and exploring nature. But somewhere science class got incredibly boring. The textbooks were so boringly written (sadly, they were written by a great uncle) and science labs were always so frustrating due to overly precise procedures to get the experiments to completely work that they rarely worked for me or for most of the class as I recall. There was one fun moment when an inability to understand my Irish lab partner's lilt led to a small Bunsen burner fire, but otherwise science was so boring and always my least favourite subject.
So, I turned to the dark side, the fine arts. But what could my life had been like if my science education had not been such a dud. Many years have passed, and recently I encountered this graphic book as a free borrow from HOOPLA.
I wish this book had been my science teacher. I love this book! The book is for middle school kids and presents a series of (supposedly) easy to do projects that have a corresponding science lesson (but not overly didactic).
The artwork is much better than I ever would’ve imagined. I think this visual approach will help make science more accessible to reluctant science learners.
The writing uses two kids and presents a series of vignettes as they complete various engineering and science type projects. There isn’t much of a narrative, but the kids do express the type of imagination and spirit of adventure that makes their projects very interesting.
The projects themselves are exactly the types of things that kids (and kids at heart, such as me) would love to build, try, and enjoy. Not all are necessarily age-appropriate (e.g., requiring kids to use power tools extensively) or at the appropriate skill level for kids that aren’t already really into building things. The instructions for many projects lake the depth and granularity, such that I doubt many children could complete them without extensive outside help. And a failed project is very frustrating and discouraging. Nonetheless, just reading about the projects without even attempting them (as I just did) is still fun and valuable.
Using the comics medium and the ingenuity of the authors in their DIY projects that illustrate science concepts is inspiring and accessible in ways my dire textbook and dour teachers could never be. I wish there was a DIY time machine in this book so I could give young me this book!
So, I turned to the dark side, the fine arts. But what could my life had been like if my science education had not been such a dud. Many years have passed, and recently I encountered this graphic book as a free borrow from HOOPLA.
I wish this book had been my science teacher. I love this book! The book is for middle school kids and presents a series of (supposedly) easy to do projects that have a corresponding science lesson (but not overly didactic).
The artwork is much better than I ever would’ve imagined. I think this visual approach will help make science more accessible to reluctant science learners.
The writing uses two kids and presents a series of vignettes as they complete various engineering and science type projects. There isn’t much of a narrative, but the kids do express the type of imagination and spirit of adventure that makes their projects very interesting.
The projects themselves are exactly the types of things that kids (and kids at heart, such as me) would love to build, try, and enjoy. Not all are necessarily age-appropriate (e.g., requiring kids to use power tools extensively) or at the appropriate skill level for kids that aren’t already really into building things. The instructions for many projects lake the depth and granularity, such that I doubt many children could complete them without extensive outside help. And a failed project is very frustrating and discouraging. Nonetheless, just reading about the projects without even attempting them (as I just did) is still fun and valuable.
Using the comics medium and the ingenuity of the authors in their DIY projects that illustrate science concepts is inspiring and accessible in ways my dire textbook and dour teachers could never be. I wish there was a DIY time machine in this book so I could give young me this book!
May 14, 2019
Science and construction for kids in comicbook format. Successful.
I didn’t bother to read all of this as I am not the target readership for this comic collection. Two children learn how to build all sorts of useful and enjoyable stuff with basic tools and materials
It’s aimed at American children but I’m sure that others can interpret and use the information successfully. It’s nicely illustrated and a fun experience.
November 18, 2017
This would be great in a classroom or workshop setting.
January 12, 2018
Wow, I wish I read this when I was a kid. Gets you excited about inventing!
February 4, 2015
3.5-ish stars.
Fun crafts with a wide range and I like the viewpoint of having kids learn how to explore the world on their own (with some assistance with those tricky power tools). I do wish that some of the poster-style crafts had more details about how it was actually done, but I suppose the point is for the kids to discover it on their own. Good for Lab!
Fun crafts with a wide range and I like the viewpoint of having kids learn how to explore the world on their own (with some assistance with those tricky power tools). I do wish that some of the poster-style crafts had more details about how it was actually done, but I suppose the point is for the kids to discover it on their own. Good for Lab!
April 24, 2016
Great for STEAM
April 8, 2017
The kids have already tried several of the projects presented in Dragotta's book. It's sure to be a featured guidebook to fun that they return to again and again this summer to stave off boredom.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews