The Fix-It Man: An Inspiring Picture Book About Engineering and Creative Inventions for Kids

by Susan Hood, Arree Chung (Illustrator)

Meet Joshua James, the fix-it man. If he can’t fix it, no one can!

When a stinky problem arises, Joshua James takes matters into his own hands with a little help from his younger sister, Sophie.

This playful read-aloud story with catchy text and imaginative illustrations is sure to inspire young inventors everywhere.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Stem, Storytime, Construction, Family

40 pages, Hardcover

First published November 8, 2016

About the author

Susan Hood is the award-winning author of many books for young readers, including Ada's Violin; Lifeboat 12; The Last Straw: Kids vs. Plastics; Shaking Things Up; Titan and the Wild Boars: The True Cave Rescue of the Thai Soccer Team; and We Are One: How the World Adds Up.

Susan is the recipient of an E. B. White Read-Aloud Picture Book Honor, the Christopher Award, the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, the Golden Kite Award, and the Bank Street Flora Stieglitz Straus Award, given annually for “a distinguished work of nonfiction that serves as an inspiration to young people.”

COMING IN MARCH, 2022!
Susan's newest book is Alias Anna: A True Story of Outwitting the Nazis. Co-authored with Anna's (a.k.a. Zhanna's) son Greg Dawson, this biography in verse celebrates the life-saving power of the arts.

Reviews

[Dimity Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stimulating for all those budding inventors out there with restless minds and hands. Illustrations are eyeful of detail and humour. Young male readers especially will find curry with this one although any youngster will appreciate the sweet relationship between the fix it man (aka JJ) and his baby sister.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agreed with another review that sometimes the illustrations can be a bit too busy, so those may translate better in a one-on-one read instead of a storytime. Nice overall themes of fixing, some things not being able to be fixed, saying sorry, trying again, getting back up, etc. I like the little sister's involvement in all of the fixing adventures.

This is an easy choice to include in storytime for Summer Reading 2017's building theme.

[Katie Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for fans of Rosie Revere Engineer or Iggy Peck Architect. A great look at tinkering and trial and error to solve a problem.

Viewed an ARC copy.

[Lorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joshua James is his family’s fix-it man. He creates clever machines to help with chores. His newest problem involves creating a “dump the diapers” machine that will take his sister’s dirty diapers right from the changing table to the outside garbage can. Some unforeseen problems leave his success in doubt as he puts the first diaper out to the trash.

Arree Chung's water color and ink illustrations bring to life the scientific process as our main character works and reworks his invention from idea to a real working machine. With a fun, story and clever artwork this would be a good story for groups or classes embarking on their own attempts at invention.

I would recommend this book for purchase by any school or public library.

This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Joshua James is the Fix-It Man.
If he can't fix it, no one can!"
Joshua is inventive. He has a Rube Goldberg machine set up to help him get ready in the mornings. He even creates a contraption that disposes of his little sister's dirty diapers. But nothing is perfect and sometimes accidents happen.
"Things may need to break in two
to bring the world something new!"
*Includes diagrams of various Rube Goldberg devices. The illustrations are very detailed.

Teaching points: creativity, inventions, hard work, being helpful

Suggested grade level: K-3

Location: LES library

Related reads:
The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires (LES library, Libby app - ebook, Epic! - ebook)
Mixed: a Colorful Story by Arree Chung (LES library)
Albert the Fix-It Man by Janet Lord (Epic!)
The Fix-It Man by Dimity Powell (NC Kids Digital Library - Libby app)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Rube Goldberg machines. Arree's illustrations are great. It's the old-timey idea of inventions with a modern illustration style.

I like the story and the rhyming works well. As a person who reads stories for school library visits, the diaper disposal scenario is a hard one for me. Maybe it's just that I can smell the smells and I don't want to deal with diapers. That part of me wishes the big problem to solve was something else, but certainly smelly diapers is a problem for the ages, so I should just let it go and have fun with the story and enjoy the creativity and planning that it takes to make an invention.

[Dierdre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I would have given this 2 stars, but my 5 year old son said he liked it, so I bumped it up a star. By the title, I would have expected more of a handy man type story, but Joshua James was more of an inventor who also fixes things. I felt there wasn't a lot of focus on this book. It felt like three different stories. First, being his inventions, then hurting his sister and apologizing, then his dad getting hurt. The illustrations were a bit chaotic for my tastes. I liked them, but there seemed to be too much happening on most of the pages. Not too bad, but an optional purchase.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young inventors will enjoy this story about a boy who works hard to invent a contraption to get rid of smelly diapers. Rhyming text and clever contraptions will provide a lot of fun for children who love fixing things! Adults and children will surely strike up fun conversations about what is going on in the lively, inventive illustrations. Perfect for an invention or building story time for ages 3 - 7.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations are amazing. I love the Rube Goldberg machines throughout the book. These are great for a young science classroom to show the huge cause and effect of those machines. Fabulous! The story is very cute and one that a lot of kids can relate to; an older brother wants to get rid of the younger sisters dirty diapers. The creative way that he does it is fantastic.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter loves this book. She can read almost all of it without assistance...kudos to the author for using perfectly descriptive words that early readers can still master. Hats off to the illustrator who captured the engineering mind if a child and demonstrated it perfectly. The hamsters were also a nice touch!

[Kayla Yirdaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

My student is quite the innovator and this book was a perfect fit for him! I loved the illustrations and the way the author labeled each part of their creation. I would love a sequel that explains how J.J. made his inventions.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rhyming tale about Joshua James, a fix-it kid who tries to build contraptions to fix every problem he encounters. The main “fix” of the book is building a better way to get rid of the stinky diapers of his little sister, who seems happy to help.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joshua James likes to find things and invent projects that do things. Sometimes they work well and sometimes not. This rhyming story is about one particular invention Joshua works on when he realizes that his baby sister's diapers stink. Cute story and illustrations.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great! Perfect for Build a Better World. About a little boy who can fix/invent anything. Good read-aloud.

[Tammy Flanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rhyming a bit stilted.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read aloud, but the illustrations were a tad tricky to follow.

[Lynne Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, lively book for little ones!

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Joshua James is the Fix-it Man.
If he can’t fix it, no one can!”

JJ has grit and persistence, imagination and enthusiasm for solving problems. Sometimes things don’t always go as planned, though.

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Themes: inventions, fixing things, the letter "X"
Ages: 1-3rd grade
Pub year: 2016

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The brother sister fix it team was instantly relatable to our family and very relevant to a favorite playtime activity. The end page blueprints for inventions were enjoyable. Something I really appreciated was the brown haired main character and his blue glasses as my little guy just found out he'll be getting (blue) glasses for the first time. I really liked the subtle message of how powerful "sorry" can be as well as that parents can make mistakes. Even more so the message that sometimes breaks (or accidents, failures, etc) bring something new (as is the case sometimes when things don't go as expected). It was an encouraging book about finding solutions, involving family members, and seeing new as something that can be good.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! The illustrations are zany and fun. I loved the camaraderie between Joshua James and his little sister.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hamsters are cute.

[Silence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audience: Preschool / Grade School
Illustrations: A little busy in some spots, but overall they’re cute.
Plot / Review: Follow Joshua as he “fixes” the problems he comes across throughout the day. I like the message here, that things aren’t always yours to control and that everyone makes mistakes. Saying sorry and thinking things through goes a long way towards resolving conflict, and this book does a nice job showing the reader how it’s done.
Read Aloud: Maybe, but it has a LOT of rhyming.

[Olivia Bretting]

It is a fun read for young readers about Fix-It Man, if he can't fix it no one can. Keeps students interested by going through many fixable things and then non-fixable things. The pictures are fun cartoons that are colorful.

[Landon]

AWESOME!!!!!

[Rommel Sison · Rating 4 out of 5]

6-year-old daughter: 5 stars
4-year-old daughter: 5 stars

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite the inventive fellow.

[Elizabeth Tyree · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cute book! The simple story works really well and the illustrations are adorable.

[Nanci Booher · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun illustrations and rhyming text.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for the 2017 summer theme of Build a Better World! Can't wait to read this one aloud in storytime.