A Royal Ride: Catherine the Great's Great Invention

by Kristen Fulton, Lucy Fleming (Illustrator)

Join Catherine the Great on a fun-filled ride as she schemes to invent the roller coaster in this inventive, STEM-based nonfiction picture book!

Empress Catherine the Great, Queen of Russia loved her country, especially the snowy winters. Giant ice slides meant daring drops and thrilling rides for all!

But every spring, warm weather melted the snow and the slides.

What could Catherine the Great do to ensure fun all year round?

With some ingenuity and some royal thinking, Catherine the Great would create her greatest invention!

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Science, Childrens, Russia

34 pages, Hardcover

First published July 16, 2019

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, was a woman with a lot of energy, and plenty of ideas. She founded the Hermitage Museum (in 1764), as well as the first girls schools in Russia (the Smolny Institute for noble girls, and the Novodevichii Institute for common girls), and was a sponsor of Moscow University. She also invented the very first roller coaster, and that is what this brief work of picture-book history explores. Having always loved the winter ice slides, Catherine commanded her builders to construct a summer slide to her specifications, one that would give her the same pleasure of rushing downhill, with the wind in her face. Eventually, in 1784, they did just that, creating a great wooden slide, with a wheeled coaster rolling down its steep slope, an idea that would be adapted elsewhere, leading eventually to the modern rollercoaster. This origin story is honored in at least twelve European languages, in which the word for this type of ride can be translated as "Russian mountains..."**

I had no idea, until picking up A Royal Ride: Catherine the Great's Great Invention, that Catherine the Great had a hand in creating this amusement park ride, and I found the story here both informative and engaging. Having greatly enjoyed Kristen Fulton's Flight for Freedom: The Wetzel Family’s Daring Escape from East Germany , I have sought out other books from the author, and this was the first to come through at my library. Unfortunately, while I found the story here fascinating, the accompanying artwork from English illustrator Lucy Fleming was not the equal of that done by Torben Kuhlmann for Flight for Freedom . Created digitally, in Adobe Photoshop, Fleming's illustrations have a cute, cartoon-like style, and a fairy-tale feeling that obscures the historical setting, making the reader feel as if she were in a generic "princess story." It's not that there's anything wrong with the artwork - as I said, it's cute - but I would have preferred something done in a more realistic style, one that captured the historic setting better. Leaving that aside, this was still an interesting and engaging book, one I would recommend to picture-book readers interested in stories of inventors and/or historic royalty.

** It's a fascinating side note that, while so many languages describe a rollercoaster as "Russian Mountains," in Russian itself, this ride is described as "American Mountains" (американские горки / amerikanskiye gorki). How on earth did that happen?!?

[Panda Incognito · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of Catherine the Great inventing the first roller coaster is such a great one that I wish the illustrations had been more historically accurate and realistic. Plenty of children who read this won't have a mental framework for just how long ago this was, and I wish that the illustrations had helped with that instead of being cartoony and fanciful.

[Jessie Bond · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea Catherine the Great invented the first roller coaster! This reads like a great picture book while being totally factual. Loved it.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cool bit of history. Clearly ideas come from many places. And royalty would seem capable of funding an idea. Roller Coasters aka Russian Mountains. That's a term I've certainly never heard of. I find it interesting that this book doesn't cover how to get the cars to the top. Still, a fun book.

[Lisa Yee Swope · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catherine the Great loves her ice slide! But with the spring thaw she can't use it again until winter. What if she had something that worked year-round? Fun fact: In many languages, "roller coaster" translates to "Russian mountain"!

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

How Catherine the Great invented the roller coaster.

[Susan Waltman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tells the story of how the first roller coaster was invented.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars for this interesting bit of history

[Villain E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ha! Catherine the Great came up with the idea for and commissioned the world's first roller coaster? I did not know that.

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was a little put off by the cover. I thought it was an average princess tale popular with just one end of the gender spectrum. But it turns out to be a story about a historical figure. Catherine the great was a fascinating character in history. Even after reading two biographies that could chock a truck tire, I never read that she is responsible for the roller coaster. Is this another case of a man taking credit for a woman's idea? The story ends with one of my favorite things: a BIBLIOGRAPHY. I love bibliographies.

[Sharla Desy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute book. For some reason, I had it stuck in my head that Catherines' Royal Ride was a carriage. Was a great surprise to discover that Catherine's desire for adventure led her to invent the roller coaster! The illustrations are fun, and the information in the end matter (e.g.: many languages translate "rollercoaster" as "Russian mountain") is interesting.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is billed as "STEM-based," and although I can see the correlation between the statement and the book, it's more about a little queen who wanted to slide, and as a result, the roller coaster was born.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book about the invention and evolution of the roller coaster! It features a timeline of roller coaster history, cute illustrations, the word "roller coaster" in 12 world languages, and a bibliography.

[Lynn Beaudoin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I never thought about the origin of the roller coaster before. This book could be used to teach aspects of both science and social studies. I wish I little more of where Catherine the Great originally came from was explained.

[Leslie Marley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting nugget of history but the royal excess is not as thrilling as the ride.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

An elementary and up picture book of Russian Queen Catherine the Great's creation of a roller coaster. Cute and easy to follow with extra information at the end.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always fun to learn something I didn't know before! Catherine the Great was quite the inventor...I had no idea! Cool to learn a little more about the evolution of the roller coaster.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating, fun, and I had no idea she invented this ride we all love.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a lovely piece of history- Catherine the Great's contribution to the invention of the roller coaster. I loved the extras in the back too.

[Ashley Moser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea that Catherine the Great invented the roller coaster. I love historical stories like these. The illustrations are also fantastic.