The Secret Project

by Jonah Winter, Jeanette Winter (Illustrations)

Mother-son team Jonah and Jeanette Winter bring to life one of the most secretive scientific projects in history—the creation of the atomic bomb—in this powerful and moving picture book.At a former boy’s school in the remote desert of New Mexico, the world’s greatest scientists have gathered to work on the “Gadget,” an invention so dangerous and classified they cannot even call it by its real name. They work hard, surrounded by top security and sworn to secrecy, until finally they take their creation far out into the desert to test it, and afterward the world will never be the same.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, History, Science, War, Childrens, Historical

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 7, 2017

About the author

Jonah Winter is the celebrated author of many picture book biographies, including Barack, which was a New York Times bestseller. His books include Here Comes the Garbage Barge, Sonia Sotomayor, Roberto Clemente, and more. A poet and a painter, Mr. Winter divides his time between Santa Fe and a small town in Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Patrick J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because Debbie Reese's rather uncharitable and inaccurate review appears to be influencing other reviewers and dragging down the rating of this extraordinary and powerful book, I feel that I must respond to it directly.

Reese argues that the book erases Native peoples, particularly the Pueblo Indians who lived in the area. She begins by noting that "[t]he boys shown [at the Los Alamos Ranch School] are definitely not from the communities of northern New Mexico at that time." Is this a criticism or merely a description? Reese might not like it, but the boys in the illustrations look like the boys who actually attended that school. See for yourself:

http://historicaltimes.tumblr.com/pos...
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/...

Now look at Winter's illustrations: close enough? I should say so.

But Reese says that her "real problem" is that the book implies that there is "nothing" around the school. First, there wasn't much in the immediate surroundings: The school was a ranch, and ranches tend to occupy huge tracts of land - for the purposes of, um, ranching. Should the illustrator cram in a few adobe houses at the margins to satisfy Reese? If Reese has pictorial evidence that the Winters deliberately erased Pueblo buildings, she should present it instead of making a baseless assertion. Second, the pages that follow this clearly show that the school was near a town (Sante Fe) filled with what look to me like Native people. So clearly there is something "around" the school, close enough for the scientists to visit.

Next Reese deliberately misreads Winter's claim that "nobody knows they [the scientists] are there," which again, she claims, erases the people who lived there. She claims that the people near the school knew "it" [the school] was there. Of course they did, but that's not what Winter writes. He says nobody knew "they" (the scientists) were there. Now, as for "nobody," Winter is clearly referring to everyone outside the laboratory, as the sentence explicitly states, not "citizens of the world minus those who lived there." The only people who must have known the men were there were the people who were hired to cook, clean, and guard, who are mentioned on the previous page. And they're not "outside the laboratory." Now, were they Native people? Some of them certainly appear to be illustrated to look that way.

The Winters are not erasing anybody but the scientists themselves. This is the most deliberate and most brilliant erasure in the book: the scientists, who are normally valorized or at least not held to account for their activities. Tucked away in a school house - no longer the bright boys who played and learned as students but dark, anonymous, vaguely sinister, grown-up students, each of them a travesty of the stereotypically benign figure of the good student harmlessly pursuing knowledge for its own sake - these scientists are "students" who stay up all day and night, like machines, trying to solve complex, abstract, mathematical problems without any real knowledge of what their solutions will unleash in the real world.

Reese's quarrel with the book is focused on the alleged failure to represent Puebloans. So she isn't writing from a Native point of view but a specifically Puebloan one. This is why she simply doesn't know what to do with the page about the Hopi Indian artist except to ask questions full of winking and innuendo. The Hopi are too far away, she claims, while the San Ildefonso Puebloans were just 17 miles away. She wonders why the Winters chose *them.* Regardless of why they chose the Hopi, it's indisputable that the book represents Native people. Does Reese just think that the Winters are specifically anti-Puebloan and pro-Hopi? Does this seem plausible, given the rest of the book and indeed the rest of the Winters' other books? Puebloans are not named explicitly - so what? It doesn't erase them any more than it erases the non-Puebloans who lived in the area, who are also not specifically named. They are *shown*, correct? More generally, this criticism is just crazy if you know anything about the Winters' work. The Winters have written and illustrated some of the most racially and culturally sensitive books in the history of children's literature - books about Frieda Kahlo, the Negro Leagues, Sonya Sotomayor, Roberto Clemente, James Madison Hemings, Jelly Roll Morton, the Voting Rights Act, girls from Kenya and Afghanistan, Malala Yousafzai, and many other subjects - and now they suddenly have a vendetta against Puebloans?

Reese also has a problem with the use of the word "doll" to describe what the Hopi man is carving. Now, this might disgust you, but Winter uses the word "doll" because - wait for it - that's what they are called. They are Hopi katsina figures or "kachina dolls." According to Wikipedia: "Hopi katsina figures (Hopi language: tithu or katsintithu), also known as kachina dolls are figures carved, typically from cottonwood root, by Hopi people to instruct young girls and new brides about katsinas or katsinam, the immortal beings that bring rain, control other aspects of the natural world and society, and act as messengers between humans and the spirit world."

Clearly the point of including these dolls is to show, at least in part, that there are better ways to use our imaginations than to invent world-destroying bombs. We should CREATE, like O'Keefe, like the Hopi sculptor, not DESTROY. These dolls might also represent a respectful, symbiotic way of relating to nature, as well as a kind of spiritual presence that exists beyond the nihilism of the nuclear arms industry.

Most ridiculously and embarrassingly, Reese claims that Jeanette Winter illustrates the road into Santa Fe as a dirt road, probably because it is a brownish color. But my God, it's just HISTORICALLY ACCURATE to illustrate the road this way! That was the color of the road. Don't take my word for it, just look at this postcard from 1945:

http://manhattanprojectvoices.org/sit...

Shouldn't the Winters be praised for their meticulous accuracy?

It should be obvious that Reese simply doesn't like any book about the development of the atom bomb that doesn't talk about Pueblo people and culture explicitly. That they are represented in the illustrations isn't enough. What specific role did the Pueblo people play in the development and testing of the atom bomb that should be told about? If nobody is aware of one, then how is it a valid criticism that Winter erases them from the story - especially if they're not directly involved in it? Even if it were valid, I can't see how much of it still stands once we clear away the inaccuracies and misrepresentations of Reese's review.

I wonder if Reese did ANY research before trying to destroy this book. Maybe she should ask herself why she sees erasure and inaccuracy everywhere in this book when even the most casual Google search completely vindicates the Winters' representations. At the very least she should retract her inaccurate statements and misleading intimations.

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Secret Project is getting a lot of starred reviews for its content and illustrations. As you see, I am giving it one star. I'm reading it from a Native point of view. Or, to be more specific, the point of view of a Pueblo Indian woman whose ancestors have been in the "remote desert of New Mexico" where this book is set, for thousands of years.

The opening pages depict a boys school, all alone in the middle of a "desert mountain landscape."

That school was the Los Alamos Ranch School. The boys shown are definitely not from the communities of northern New Mexico at that time. In the Author's Note, the school is described as being an elite private academy (elsewhere, I read that William Borrough's went there). It was elite, and its history is interesting, too. What bothers me about those two pages, however, is that they suggest there was nothing there at all. It is like the text in Wilder's Little House on the Prairie. All through the area where THE SECRET PROJECT is set, there are ancestral homes of Pueblo Indians. Depicting the school that way adds to the idea that the site where the bomb would be developed was isolated, but depicting it that way also erases Native people.

The government wanted the school and that area to do research, so the boys school had to close. The scientists moved in. We read that "nobody knows they are there."

Who is nobody? It was, as the Winter's tell us, a secret project. But people who lived in the area knew it was there. They may not have known what was going on, but they knew it was there. If, by "nobody," we are meant to think "citizens of the world minus those who lived there" then yes, nobody knew (but again, nobody is relevant, even to them).

We read that in "the faraway nearby" places, people didn't know the scientists were there.

Artists, specifically, don't know they are there. The first image is meant to represent Georgia O'Keefe who lived in Abiquiu, which is about 50 miles away. It--I guess--is a "nearby" place.

Then, there's the page with text that reads "Outside the laboratory, in the faraway nearby, Hopi Indians are carving beautiful dolls out of wood as they have done for centuries."

Hopi? That's over 300 miles away in Arizona. Technically, it could be the "faraway" place the Winter's are talking about, but why go all the way there? San Ildefonso Pueblo is 17 miles away from Los Alamos. Why, I wonder, did the Winter's choose Hopi? I wonder, too, what the take-away is for people who read the word "dolls" on that page? On the next page, one of those dolls is shown hovering over the lodge where scientists are working all night. What will readers make of that?

On an ensuing page, we see the scientists take a break by going to "the nearby town" on what looks like a dirt road. That town is meant to be Santa Fe, and that particular illustration is meant to depict the plaza where Native artists sell their work (there's a Native woman shown, holding a piece of pottery). It wasn't a dirt road, though. By then, Santa Fe had paved roads. Showing it as a dirt road contributes to the isolated nature of where the scientists were doing their work, but it isn't accurate.

Like many reviewers, I think the ending is provocative. The Secret Project ends with the test of the atomic bomb, at the Trinity site. As the bomb explodes, the scientists watch from a bunker, far away. The bomb's explosion fills the last page. That's it. No more story. I think some readers will think "AWESOME" and others will think it horrible. The author's note is next. It has information about the radiation that explosion left behind, how long it will be there, and that now, studies of the cancer it caused in citizens near there, are being done.

I think children should have books about subjects like the development of the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but they ought to be inclusive of -- in this case -- Native peoples who lived and live in and around Los Alamos. As is, the book yanks those readers out of the book. And, it misleads readers who don't know the area or its history.

I suspect that people will defend it, telling me or others that "it is important that kids know about the bomb" and that my concern over its misrepresentations are of less importance than knowing about the bomb. With that defense, however, it will be among the ever-growing pile of books in which this or that topic is more important than Native people.

The irony, of course, is that this universe of books is one in which books are written and published by people who are occupying Native homelands.

Published in 2017 by Beach Lane Books/Simon and Schuster, I do not recommend Jonah and Jeanette Winter's The Secret Project.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing history for kids used to be a simple affair. I remember from my own youth the deadly dull books that somehow seemed to always cover the same subjects over and over again. You’d have the major wars. The occasional biography of one of the ten usual subjects for kids (Earhart, Edison, King, etc.). Maybe, if you were lucky, you’d find a book on how people lived in the olden days but that was as far as you’d get. Complex subject matter and topics were just that. Complex. Few people felt inclined to explain things like Japanese internment camps or the Trail of Tears or any other number of American atrocities to children. There is a school of thought that believes that kids aren’t ready for opposing viewpoints or multifaceted readings of events from the past. What’s good is good, what’s bad is bad, and the gray middle ground is left for middle and high school. It’s not like that today. Today there’s an interest in producing picture books that speak to historical moments that aren’t as neat and tidy as, say, breaking off from Mother England. And I think it’s fairly safe to say that until this moment in time nobody ever took a serious stab at writing a picture book about the birth of the atom bomb. Doesn’t matter if you’re pro. Doesn’t matter if you’re con. Here is a moment that happened in history. Your kids deserve to know about it. We owe them that much.

It was a boy’s school at the start. Until, that is, it wasn’t. The principal got a note from the government and the boys all cleared out. They were replaced by scientists. Scientists assigned to a secret location, aided by workers and guards who had no idea what was going on. The scientists themselves were working on something called a “Gadget”. They were thinking about atoms and metals with names like “uranium” and “plutonium”. And then, one day, they were finished. They drove into the desert to test it. Set it off. And saw the mushroom cloud and the colors and, finally, nothing at all.

Winter’s writing is pared down here to its essential core. He’s judicious with his word use. Gone is the loquaciousness you might find in books like Founding Fathers! or The Fabulous Feud of Gilbert and Sullivan. The very first lines in this book read, “In the beginning, there was just a peaceful desert mountain landscape.” We’re in Biblical country here, people, and the fall of man is just a scant 36 pages away. The facts are laid bare for one and all to see, but it’s the way the author presents them that sticks with the reader. Listen to these lines:

“What they are trying to invent is so secret, they cannot even call it by its real name.”

“These great scientists must complete their secret invention before any other scientists complete their secret invention.”

“. . . it is hardly even imaginable.”

In some of his books Mr. Winter has an inclination to speculate. There’s a bit of that here, but it’s kept in check. The scientists “emerge from the shadows, pale and tired and hollow-eyed…” Later, “The great scientists gather around their creation in silence, wondering if it will work.” But these leaps are logical ones. Entirely presumable and understandable. He hasn’t filled in fake dialogue here or said anything that couldn’t be inherently understood. It is the job of the nonfiction picture book writer to stick to the facts and yet also make their books potentially interesting to four to seven-year-olds. Striking the right balance is an art, and in this book Mr. Winter makes it clear that he’s taken everything he’s learned over the years and applied it.

Some of the choices Mr. Winter makes with the text linger. He takes time to leave Los Alamos behind, from time to time. He visits the people living in the region, with special attention paid to the artists. He makes a point to shine a spotlight on the hired workers who were brought in “to cook, to clean, to guard.” We see a Hopi artist carving wood and a white painter who bears a striking similarity to Georgia O'Keefe. All this is to make clear to the reader that what happened at Los Alamos didn’t occur in a vacuum. That there was life outside the gadget. Life that would be considerably altered by what the scientists were doing. When you read the Author’s Note you find that Mr. Winter is not chintzy with the details on the destruction caused by the “gadget”. He lists the number of years it will take before the site of the first atom bomb testing grounds will be free of radioactivity (24,100 years). He mentions the fact that the U.S. is only now studying the cancerous effects on the populace of New Mexico from this test. He talks about the number of Japanese civilians, “many of them children” who died of the bomb’s effects in World War II (between 164,000 and 214,000). He mentions the reasons for the bomb, and the fact that the U.S. was racing Germany to create it. He mentions that in the text too, for that matter. But the end of the Author’s Note is clear. “… as of 2016, there are 15,700 nuclear weapons still in existence throughout the world. Hopefully some day that number will be zero.” And when you read that, the inclusion of the people living just outside of Los Alamos is clear. That’s life out there. That’s living. What the scientists were hoping to create? A possible end to all of that.

It will surprise few reading this book to learn that artist Jeanette Winter created a picture book biography of Georgia O’Keefe lo these many years ago. Unsurprisingly because in many ways I feel that this is the most O’Keefe-inspired of Ms. Winter’s books. If Georgia O’Keefe had taken it upon herself to disregard the skulls and flowers and landscapes of the New Mexico region, she might well have created as artist a rendering of the mushroom cloud as beautiful as the the one found in this book. That cloud, which takes a full four pages to blossom fully before plunging you into two pages of complete and absolute darkness, may be the most controversial in the book. Can an atom bomb be beautiful? If you render it with beauty are you, by association, giving to it some kind of tacit approval? Or is it possible that something can be beautiful and horrible all at once? Neither Jonah nor Jeanette proselytizes in this book. We know his opinion of the bomb because of the Author’s Note, but the text is strictly factual. There are arguments out there to be made for the fact that good nonfiction can be interpreted any number of ways by its readers. A person who thinks nuclear weapons are the bee’s knees is going to like this book. A person who believes that they pose a threat to the environment and humanity will also come away from this title, liking it. Why? Because it sets the facts before you but reserves commentary until that final two-page spread of black.

I’ll go out on a limb here and say that this may be Jeanette Winter’s best book to date. In many ways her books have grown braver and more ethically complex as she’s aged. This is a woman who can write a book about Matisse’s paper cuts one moment and then highlight international injustices at home and abroad without so much as blinking an eye. Many of the illustrations in this book are works of clear beauty that are both of their time and outside of it. For example, the scientists working on the Manhattan Project are gray individuals. Even when they leave Los Alamos they’re depicted in a deep, colorless hue. Only their ideas flare into color. Atoms, protons, neutrons - all set against a deep black background. Black like those last two pages. That black is so powerful when you read it aloud to a child. You don’t look at pages of pure black without a sense of dread. Can’t be done. Imagine a teacher or a librarian reading this book aloud. Picture the silence when they simply turn the page and hold up the black. It’s not the only subtle commentary done with color, of course. Even the typography of the book changes. Before the government takes the land over, the text is written in green ink, but the moment the principal of the boys' school gets his letter, the text is black and remains black for almost the rest of the book.

It’s not just for younger kids, in spite of its packaging. This book could be read by older readers as well, and it will be. They’ll come into their libraries asking for books on the bomb and the librarian will hand them this book. They’ll scoff at first. A baby book? But the fact that it’s supposed to be about the creation of the atom bomb will suck them in. And if they sit down to read it, they will comprehend it. They may even comprehend what it is that Jonah Winter and Jeanette Winter are trying to tell them. Or maybe not. Maybe they’ll walk away thinking the bomb is beautiful. The author doesn’t have ultimate control over the reader’s experience. They can guide you in the right direction, but the reader is the ultimate judge. Still, the Winters manage to stick to the facts and comment without shoving a message in your face. That alone makes the book more interesting and more powerful than all the polemics on all the Facebook feeds in the world. One of the most beautiful nonfiction picture books on a too little covered moment in American history I’ve ever seen. Chilling, in the best sense of the word.

For ages 5 and up.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like picture books to sometimes address real political realities. This is an interesting approach to the invention of the Atomic Bomb in 1943 in the New Mexico desert, Los Alamos, that takes a sort of faux-naive approach to what the secret is all about, in part because those who lived there--even those that work at the project site!--didn't even know what was going on. Hey, kids, you like secrets, right?!

The artwork is great, and the story is very muted, which I liked, but even the tween kids in my house were a little confused about what was going on. Though they noticed the ending is the igniting of the bomb. . . and then darkness for a couple pages. They didn't read the two page author note about it that also mentions the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki until I called their attention to it.

So I liked it a bit better than they did. I am also reading these days about North Korea's bombing tests and the bombing of Syria with "the largest and most powerful non-nuclear bomb" on the planet. So sometimes a book about bombs is timely in ways the authors wouldn't have wanted it to be. Trump says it is "inevitable" that "most countries in the world" will have nuclear bombing capacity and soon. Not what the authors and I were hoping to hear.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quiet remote boys school located in the New Mexican desert suddenly receives a letter telling them that the school must evacuate the area immediately. The letter goes to explain that the school is needed for important government work.

With the school gone, the location becomes a secret, with no name or other identification. Soon, cars begin to arrive carrying scientists from all other the world, followed by other workers who are sworn to secrecy.

The scientists begin working, hoping to cut the atom, the smallest particle in the world, in half. But why? All the reader knows is that they are working on something called the Gadget, a thing that requires a lot of mathematical calculation in order to create something gigantic out of something tiny. And it is a race to get it finished before anyone else in the world does.

At the same time that the scientists are shut away in the former school building working day and night, outside ordinary desert life goes on. Until one day, the scientist pack up their Gadget and drive out to an even more deserted part of the desert. They carefully unload their project, drive away to a safe bunker in the ground, and start counting down. Suddenly, the biggest man-made blast the world had ever known fills the sky. The atomic bomb has been unleashed.

The Secret Project is a very compelling, very powerful picture books about the creation of the atomic bomb. It is never referred to by its name, the Manhattan Project, or its exact location, the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, nor are any of the scientists who worked on it named. This kind of ambiguity, not explaining what is going on, only makes the secret project feel that much more secret, sustaining the suspense of what is going on, and also adding a rather sinister tone to the over all story. Outside the building, the desert remains peaceful and serene, providing an interesting contrast to the work inside the building. The reader sees a Hopi Indian carving a Kachina doll, an unnamed artist, probably Georgia O'Keefe, painting a desert scene, and desert animals going about their business. It is a contrast that is only fully realized at the end of the book.

Author Jonah Winter has once again collaborated with his mother, illustrator Jeanette Winter, on this book. Illustrations and text compliment each other in their straightforward simplicity. The digitally rendered images are a contrast of light, bright colors reflecting the hot sunny desert, and the dark, shadowing grays inside the former school, testimony of the clandestine work going on inside.

The Secret Project is an excellent way to introduce children to the difficult topic of the atomic bomb, and, unfortunately, a book that resonates in today's world of nuclear weapons.

This book is recommended for readers age 5+
This book was purchased for my personal library

This review was originally posted at The Children's War

[Julius Rokesmith · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a great book. the review getting passed around by debbie reese - and changing people's minds based on no evidence & bad misreadings - is totally irresponsible. while the pueblo people are not directly mentioned in the text of the book, they are shown in the drawings. so they were not "erased." newsflash: this isn't a book about pueblo people but the creation and explosion of the first atom bomb. just because it happened in los alamos doesn't mean it needs to talk about pueblo people and culture any more than it needs to talk the mexicans who lived there. mexicans aren't mentioned - what do we make of that??? moreover, she kicks up a big stink about the word "dolls," which is exactly what the hopi dolls are called and even claims THE ROAD into santa fe isn't illustrated properly (and therefore gives people the impression, somehow, that nobody of any importance lived there) when it totally is. see Patrick J.'s review below for a more thorough destruction of reese's "review." i hear alot about reese and how everybody in the publishing industry is terrified of her - just look at all the poor people who've change their reviews once they read her parboiled hodgepodge of vague suggestion and outright distortion - and it's really time people stood up to this nonsense. just take a gander at her website full of books with big X's through them like she's trying to prevent the angel of death from visiting your house. really just infuriating. anyway, check out this book.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book at my local independent bookstore having read the starred reviews, and am not disappointed. It is on my "keeper" shelf for my grandchildren. I grew up with 'the bomb' and understand the excitement and scientific significance of discovery, as well as the consequences. I want the next generations to grasp this dichotomy too.

I think that Jonah Winter did a superb job with the text, depicting a complicated time and task with uncomplicated, poetic language. I am haunted by the repeated phrase "in the faraway nearby." The scientist must have felt the dichotomy: creating in order to destroy. As with other books by Winter, the Author's Note contains valuable information - essential for the teacher / parent / grandparent who might not remember exact names / dates / locations. Also included is a bibliography for further reading. This is one well researched book, one that I can definitely recommend on content.

I can also recommend The Secret Project for the illustrations. Jeanette Winter has again used her talents to add depth of meaning to the text of a book. As with Nasreen's Secret School, Biblioburro and The Librarian of Basra her depictions of the characters are both universal yet true to their culture. The illustrations shift between scenes of rural New Mexico and interior work of the scientist. The change from light to dark is subtle but effective, as is the shift from white borders on pages to dark green and finally to pages that are completely black.

I have purchased and read many books by both Jonah and Jeanette Winter. They tackle important topics with beautiful prose and artwork. I find their books challenging and mind changing. The Secret Project is exactly the kind of book I want to share with children so they can take care of our world.

[Pam Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of the creation of the atomic bomb in the desert of New Mexico, told in a simplistic format for children. However, the author's note contains further details, especially of the devastation the testing of the bomb had on New Mexico.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though my initial read left me thinking highly of this book as a fascinating book with a unique layout, storytelling, and images to heighten the impact of the story, it was later, when I read Debbie Reese's review with some criticisms from the perspective of how the Pueblo and Hopi cultures are depicted or erased within the story, that lead me to a second read.

In my first read, I think the power of the end of the book, with its combination of visual and textual impact, caused me to forget my uneasiness from earlier in the story with how the page with the "faraway nearby" Hopi carving "dolls" seemed questionable. For me it was for two reasons: 1, I know what a kachina is and it's not the same as a "doll" and I wasn't sure if the actual one represented in the sky was from a particular teaching about a constellation from the Hopi tribe & 2, I knew the Hopi were in the Southwest, so I assumed it was accurate for the location, but wasn't sure. After reading Debbie's review, it clarified those pages and brought to light concerns about the representation of the tribal nations that were actually in the area of New Mexico where this story takes place. Please read her review if you're thinking of using this book in order to think about how to talk with kids about the book + the issues with representation - she explains much better than I can what the concerns are.

Anytime there is a critical review that brings up concerns about a story, especially from the perspective of a person from that culture, I want to add their links to my reviews to give a more complete picture of the story and for people to find more voices that can help them grow their awareness. As an educator and promoter of children's literature, I feel it's crucial to listen, learn, and share when concerns are brought up about books that may make end up shared in classrooms, which helps me continue to become more aware and critical of my own biases and privilege.

[Penelope Jehle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Secret Project is an extraordinary achievement - brilliantly conceived, beautifully written and illustrated - that my kids and I learned from and enjoyed immensely. It is possible that there are some historical realities that are so monstrous that they can only be represented truthfully in the form of a fable. Jonah and Jeannette Winters have done just that: They have taken a subject that is simultaneously impossible - and yet absolutely necessary - to tell children about and managed to find the perfect way to tell about it. Instead of sanitizing history and turning the scientists into heroes, Jonah Winter chooses to narrate the story as a kind of dark fable, full of "shadowy figures" inventing something they call the "Gadget." The choice to narrate the story this way is worthy of Kafka. A harmless piece of technology being developed by faceless nobodies: What better way to illustrate the banality of evil? In the end we are left with the explosion of the bomb itself - and silence. It is in that silence that we must face our children and talk to them about the world in which we live. And given the insanely cavalier way in which the prospect of nuclear war is being treated by many world leaders today, including our own, it is incumbent upon us to raise children who are aware that the threat of nuclear war is very much still with us. So every time we are unfazed by yet another report of a "nuclear test" somewhere in the world, we should think of the explosion near the end of this book and the blackness that follows. We should think of how we could possibly explain to our children how we could live in a world in which such things routinely happen. Luckily, the Winters have shown us how. I could not recommend this book more highly.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gripping and terrifying picture book account of the making of the atomic bomb. With sparse text and beautiful illustrations, this book recounts how major events can develop behind the scenes, oh so quietly.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Text: 2 stars
Illustrations: 5 stars

I think this will be a hard sell to children due to the very plain cover, an unfortunate choice given the richness of the interior illustrations. The artistic style is a very effective choice for the subject, mood, and location of the book. The last six wordless pages of the book are stunning and terrifying at the same time, and leave a deep, lasting impression on readers.

Other reviewers have noted inaccuracies within the text; I don't have enough knowledge to comment on those myself, but I do wonder if publishers employ fact checkers anymore, particularly for nonfiction. It's easy to see that there is no bibliography or sources listed, and only 1 item in the "Further Reading" list is a children's book. Those should have been red flags.

I wonder why Oppenheimer is the only name mentioned in the Author's Note. Of course he was in charge of the project, but what about all the other scientists who worked on it alongside him? But the main issue I see within the text is the lack of context. The paragraph in the Author's Note that mentions World War II ("The reason for this secrecy...to win the war.") needs to appear within the body text. Otherwise, there is no reason or explanation for what they are doing. If we're going to tell children about the development of the atomic bomb, let's be sure we don't lead them to believe that it was some cool, secret project. We can't change history, so we need to be honest about what we did and why. I'm not advocating the sharing of atrocities within a picture book. I'm saying that we need to tell children we were at war, and were desperate to win that war, because that's the truth.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

That amazing ending makes this 3 star book a 4 star book. Besides what's in the back, there's not a lot of info in the story itself, so if you don't know what it's about, you might not unless it were explained to you. Which is not a bad thing. But this book certainly is most powerful in the hands of caretakers who can provide context and an opportunity for discussion about its contents.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible risk to take, creating a picture book about the creation of the atomic bomb. A mother-son team not only take that risk but create a book that is heart pounding, historical and riveting. In a shut-down school in the desert of New Mexico, a very secret project begins. The world’s greatest scientists gather to work on the “Gadget.” They work day and night working to cut an atom in half. After two years of work, the device is ready to be tested. The book ends with a countdown to the test and the resulting mushroom cloud.

Told in the simplest of language, this picture book looks at the process of building the atomic bomb, the secrecy of the project and the skill and time that it took. There is a constant growing foreboding as the project continues, as the science progresses. This book is not about the importance of the weapon and does not glorify it in any way. Instead it brings the science down to nuts and bolts, looks at the damage that it creates, and ends in a way that makes sure to leave readers with their heart in their throats.

The illustrations have a strong sense of formality and control to them. Each is framed in a square box and the rest of the page is white. They are almost tiles that decorate the wall for the reader. That all changes as the test begins and suddenly the strict rules are broken wide open, adding to the drama of the end.

Stunning, powerful and brave, this picture book belongs in all library collections. Appropriate for ages 6-8.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I could adequately communicate to adults what they are missing by not reading children's nonfiction, especially picture book format. When writing for children, authors carve out the most essential elements, carefully choosing the fewest, most effective words. In the best picture books, the illustrator creates images that not only support the information, but enhance and strengthen the impact of the story. In The Secret Project, Jeanette Winter and son Jonah Winter combine their talents in a picture book about the invention of one of the most horrible weapons of war, the atomic bomb. How can this be explained to children? Author Winter writes about how "the greatest scientists in the world...are trying to figure out how to take the tiniest particle in the world, the atom, and cut it half, making it tinier...[and] help them create something gigantic. Illustrator Winter presents simple drawings with muted earth tones of the desert landscape or grey and black outlines of the mysterious scientists working on their secret "Gadget." Occasional bright colors hint at what is to come. But the most powerful part of the story -- literally and figuratively -- is presented simply and directly. Nothing can really describe the power of the bomb and the Winters let the effects speak for themselves.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beach Lane Books, 2017
40 pages
Recommended for grades 4+

My lovely librarian handed this to me with a: You must read this! We were both moved by the simplicity in which this heavy topic was told. How much of a contradiction there was in the innocence and in the seriousness. A purposeful contradiction. How the illustrations so perfectly portray the setting, and how the final pages of darkness will evoke deep feelings.
No matter how old your students are, this would be a fantastic read aloud. It will surely spark much conversation around the Manhattan Project.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly crafted picture book about the top secret research and development of the "gadget" during World War II. Every aspect of the book fits like a puzzle piece with all the others, creating a deeply thoughtful introduction to this important aspect of human history.

Will be ideal for use with students at many levels as an introduction for younger students or an entry point for further study with older students.

[Pam Lilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating but DARK! Not for K-2.

[Franki Sibberson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an interesting book with information I did not know. I think the back matter is important as is taking into account this review from Debbie Reese on her blog. https://americanindiansinchildrenslit.... I definitely understand and agree with the points she makes. I think her perspective is important and would need to be part of a conversation around this book if shared with children.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect, I believe my library had this listed as a graphic novel. This is a picture book, which isn’t bad, it’s just an adjustment of expectations. I think it is good for picture books to cover heavy topics.

A Goodreads friend of mine mentioned that his tween kids skipped the Author’s Note in the back, perhaps it would have been better to make it more of an afterward, with images and less text dense to make it more likely to be read by others.

[Jordan Henrichs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how Jonah Winter has broken down this complex story and presented it in a simple, yet mysterious style for children. This is not your typical informational nonfiction book. This is a work of art. From the text to the illustrations. The artwork is beautiful. The final image is haunting.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so conflicted about this book! On one hand: I have always loved the work of this mother and son, whether working together or alone. They excel at bringing little known people and events to life for a young audience. The Secret Project is gorgeous in its execution. On the other hand: I don't know if this book succeeds in presenting the nuclear bomb in a way that children can understand and not fear. It begins with a school being shut down so a secret, nameless government project can take place on the premises. Shadowy figures conduct the work. The book ends with a countdown, four pages of explosion, gorgeous in intensity, and then two pages of black. On the "third" hand: yes, we all should fear the nuclear bomb! But this book may accentuate too much for my taste the shady, secretive way in which the bomb was conceived and tested, and the end-of-days explosion at the end is a horrific finality. The historical context is not present in the body of the book. The war and further details of science are covered in the author's note, but I don't think that the intended audience will understand it.
Although the spare style of this book makes it look like a preschool picture book, I would recommend this for ages 10 and up.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This powerful, but simple book provides a thought provoking entree into the subject of the atomic bomb. As it ends with a scene that younger children will not be able to really conceptualize in a meaningful way, this book would be best used as a picture book lead in with an older group of children, perhaps upper elementary, middle or even high school students. Combined with the author's note, there is much to explore and discuss. The sparse nature of the text, along with the simple, yet compelling illustrations allow for contemplation and understanding without moralizing.

[Carol V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well worth the read! Not uplifting, but eye-opening. The mother son team have created a must-read informative book about the making of the atomic bomb. The story will leave you thinking beyond the last page of the book. Chemical and nuclear warfare is frightening. Note: This book is dedicated to the peacemakers.

[Gps · Rating 5 out of 5]

The beautifully illustrated story of the creation of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos shows great depth and tackles an immensely challenging topic, the creation of the bomb, its horrifying beauty and the destruction that it wrought.

a unique book that offers children some initial insights into hugely significant moment in American and world history.

definitely worth reading and reflecting on, and then discussing with the children with whom one reads this remarkably well done book.

[DaNae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the language,love the art, love the pacing and unfolding. My only question is how much context very young readers can give the subject? Written at such a low level (6-8), I feel slightly older readers (10^) may have the sophistication for it. So beautifully done.

[Marissa Elera · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and alarming topic for a picture book. The Winters do beautiful work.

[Miranda Rosbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perhaps one of the most compelling nonfiction picture books I've ever encountered.

[Danielle H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A picture book about the atom bomb is still something I'm going to need some time with wrapping my head around.

[Tegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very powerful way to tell the story of American creating the first atomic bomb. Read for grad school for Info Books for Youth.