Title: Ada Twist Scientist
Author: Andrea Beaty
Illustrator: David Roberts
Age Group: 3-8
Synopsis: Ada Twist is determined to embrace the curiosity that makes her a great scientist, even if it leaves chaos in her wake.
The Low Down:
We received this story as a gift for Bug’s second birthday and I held off reading it to him for awhile just because it’s so much longer than the stories that seem to hold his interest. That’s not necessarily a bad thing and in truth I’ve revised stories as we’ve read them to make them a more compatible length. I just really liked Ada Twist so much that I didn’t want to jinx it. When I was about nine my mother encouraged me to read Anne of Green Gables. I hated it. I refused to read it for years and then tried it again when I was older and blazed through the entire series in a week. Looking back, I just wasn’t ready for it the first time but being open to it changed my mind. Toddlers are fickle creatures and Bug has a memory like a steal cage. We’ll be walking along and he’ll randomly speak about something we did 6 months or longer ago. So, if I introduced him to Ada Twist and he wasn’t ready and so didn’t like it, it would take me a long time to coax him to try it again. Luckily, I didn’t even have to explore that avenue. Bug LOVES Ada Twist and has taken to acting out her experiments while we read. A huge relief for me.
It’s easy to see why Bug loves this story of a spunky, curious, and intelligent young lady that is described through a fabulous rhyming text. Ada doesn’t speak until she’s three and then she lets out all of the questions she’s been building up. Some of them are genuine, some of them are silly (Bug thinks the reference to a granddaughter clock), but they all from a place of childlike wonder and curiosity. Of course, Ada being a scientist takes it one step further by preforming experiments and doing research. The family goes through their ups and downs in dealing with some of the chaos that’s left in the wakes of these knowledge binges but ultimately does what a good family should do. They bond together and adapt. Isn’t love awesome like that?
Roberts jumps in on this amazing fun by adding some super funky contributions. I’m in love with Ada’s Mom who is always sporting some awesome 70’s fashion trend. It’s this attention to detail which makes each page so vastly entertaining. Books with the author’s name worked into the title, cameos from characters from the series (that’s right, there’s more than one!), and the notes that Ada writes are all done with so much time and care it would would be impossible not to be impressed.
We have tons of stories about animals and little boys adventuring to and fro but Bug really identifies with Ada Twist. And what kid doesn’t? As much as we parents try to manage it, there’s a mess-making, curiosity-driven, knowledge-seeking little scientist inside almost all of our little ones.
Story Tips:
- Have some experiments ready to go right afterwards to encourage littles. We did a mentos and soda-pop experiment and I learned that it’s MUCH more impressive with a 2 Liter bottle than a 16 oz. The good thing is Bug is young and never seen it before. He was talking about the explosion for days.
I need more!
Beaty and Roberts have two other books in this series as well as a few supplementary books. Rosie Revere Engineer and Iggy Peck Architect are both lovely. There’s also Rosie Revere’s Big Project Book for Bold Engineers that was out April 2017 and a Peck and Revere Studio (which is more of a journal). For more info check out: http://www.andreabeaty.com/
Add to my library:
