TECHNOLOGY

Preschool | Ages 5 to 8 | Ages 8 to 11 | Ages 11+

Preschool

Let's try it out with towers and bridges: Hands-on early learning science activities
Simon, Seymour and Nicole Fauteux, illustrated by Doug Cushman (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003, unpaged)
The 'Let's try it out' series presents simple experiments with everyday materials for young children to try at home. In this book, blocks, drinking straws, cardboard tubes and pieces of paper are used to show how buildings and bridges of different shapes can be made strong enough to withstand various forces such as weight and wind. Australian readers may not be familiar with the introductory section about the American pioneers going west but this is a minor issue. Other books in the series can be found at the author's website: www.SimonSaysKids.com.
(TECHNOLOGY; PHYSICS)

Ages 5 to 8

Robert Crowther's amazing pop-up house of inventions
Crowther, Robert (Walker, 2000, 12 openings)
Robert Crowther has been creating wonderful pop-up books for many years, most notably The most amazing hide-and-seek alphabet book. In this introduction to the history of technology, he uses his paper engineering skills, room by room, through a house. Covering the kitchen, bathroom, living room, bedroom and garage, flaps are lifted, doors opened and dials turned to reveal when various appliances, machines and other common innovations and traditions were invented or first used.
(TECHNOLOGY)

Until I met Dudley
McGough, Roger; illustrated by Chris Riddell (Angus & Robertson, 1997, 28pp.)
With two such highly regarded creators of children's books as Roger McGough and illustrator Chris Riddell, this book could hardly lose. Narrated in the first person, the small girl telling the story explains how she used to think various gadgets worked pre-Dudley. Dragons toasting bread and snakes as vacuum cleaners are just two illustrated in glorious nonsensical detail. After meeting Dudley the learned bespectacled dog, the real mechanism behind these and other inventions is explained to her. A final concluding touch of genius is the last double-page spread showing a great many silly creatures, which featured earlier in the fantastical imaginings of the little girl, waving goodbye and leaving the book. Non-fiction text compiled by Moira Butterfield and Douglas Maxwell.
(TECHNOLOGY)

Once I was a cardboard box… but now I am a book about polar bears
Poitier, Anton (text) Melvyn Evans (Five Mile Press, 2009, 24pp.)
Originally published in the UK by Potter Books, this book and its companion, Once I was a comic… but now I’m a book about tigers, are written by well-known author Tony Potter. The books are produced totally of recycled paper and board and the dual text explains to readers all about polar bears in the main text and how recycling of paper is done on the right-hand side of each double-page spread. The design and layout are excellent with large bold font, photos of polar bears and drawings combining to be clear and engaging. This clever concept works surprisingly well and young readers will be well-informed about both polar bears and recycling.
(OUR WORLD; ANIMALS; TECHNOLOGY)

Stephen Biesty's incredible cross-sections
Platt, Richard (Viking, 1992, 48pp.)
This ground-breaking book, originally published by Dorling Kindersley, was the first of the recent spate using a very large format with detailed cross-sections of various inventions. Each double-page shows a cutaway or sliced drawing revealing the inner workings of a building or vehicle. Detailed captions placed around the drawing label relevant parts and explain the components which make up the whole construction. Topics include castles, cathedrals, skyscrapers, coal mines, oil rigs, various ships, planes and trains.
(TECHNOLOGY)

Ages 8 to 11

The science of a light bulb
Evans, Neville (Science World Series, Wayland, 1999, 32pp.)
The technology behind modern lighting is introduced by following how people learnt to burn different substances in lamps to make light, and then to use electricity in arc lamps, light bulbs and then fluorescent tubes. Diagrams of simple electric circuits and how electric current enters and leaves a light bulb are shown. Illustrated mainly by photographs.
(TECHNOLOGY)

Paper airplanes and super flyers (Revised ed.)
Francis, Neil (Kids Can Press, 1996, 40pp.)
Instructs how to make gliders (paper aeroplanes – including how to add elevators or wing flaps and rudder), parachutes, and kites with short passages giving the principles of how they work. Illustrated by June Bradford with clear line drawings. North American outlook.
(TECHNOLOGY)

How nearly everything was invented: by the Brainwaves
MacLeod, Jilly, illustrated by Lisa Swerling and Ralph Lazar (Dorling Kindersley, 2006, 61p.)
Shortlisted for The Royal Society Prize for Science Books: Junior Prize in 2007, How nearly everything was invented is supposedly written by the Brainwaves, small cartoon-style characters who populate each page in large numbers to provide comments on the topic under discussion. Every second alternate double-page spread is actually a fold-out which opens up to provide a four-page timeline of the development in a particular subject. Inventions and their applications covered include the lens, the steam engine, electricity and the light bulb, the internal combustion engine and the transistor, along with brief information of the people who made some of these important breakthroughs.

In 2007 the same illustrators published the next in the series, How the incredible human body works: by the Brainwaves, written by Richard Walker, which uses the same format to explain the systems of the human body. The four-page lengthways foldout of the digestive system is particularly worth noting.
(TECHNOLOGY; HUMAN BIOLOGY)

Building the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Nicholson, John (Allen & Unwin, 2000, 32pp.)
Award-winning Australian author and illustrator John Nicholson has produced a well-written and visually stunning account of the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The engineering and technical feats involved, combined with historical insights into the society of the time, produce a fascinating well-rounded look at an unusual topic. Named as an Honour Book in the 2001 Children's Book Council of Australia Eve Pownall Award for Information Books.
(TECHNOLOGY. AUSTRALIAN)

Out of sight: Pictures of hidden worlds
Simon, Seymour (Sea Star, 2000, 48pp.)
The large spectacular images in this book are of things which cannot be seen by the naked eye. Electron micrographs, CAT scans, X-rays, freeze-frame photographs and satellite and telescope images are combined with colour coordinated text boxes. Young readers are introduced to many of the techniques used in science, medicine and photography which enable us to see into otherwise invisible realms.
(TECHNOLOGY)

A doctor's life: A visual history of doctors and nurses through the ages
Storring, Rod (Heinemann, 1998, 48pp.)
Despite the lack of an introduction and conclusion, this book nevertheless provides an interesting overview of the history of medicine by innovative means. Each double page takes a medical practitioner from a particular historical period, beginning with the Romans. A photograph of a person dressed as he or she would have appeared features on the page, together with the medical tools of the day. The text includes information on techniques such as blood letting as well as medical practices of the time. Although mainly discussing Western medicine, Islamic and North American Indian medicine are mentioned but not Oriental or Chinese.
(TECHNOLOGY)

Ages 11+

1001 inventions that changed the world
Challoner, Jack (ed.) (ABC Books, 2009, 960pp.)
Another “1001 Original” in the “Before You Die” series, this overview of technological advances is divided into chronological sections from “The ancient world” through to “The internet age”. It gives approximate times for those innovations unable to be specifically dated as well as years for later inventions, beginning with stone tools about 2,600,000 BCE and ending with the large Hadron Collider in 2008. Descriptions of each breakthrough are brief, ranging from a paragraph to half a page, and there are no detailed explanations of the inner workings of each invention. However what this book does provide is an impressive lengthy list of humankind’s ingenuity across a range of fields, illustrated with photographs or historical art on every double page spread. With an index at the front and a glossary and index of inventors at the end, information retrieval is easy and also assisted by cross-referencing in individual entries.
(FAMOUS SCIENTISTS; TECHNOLOGY)

How cool stuff works
Woodford, Chris and others (Dorling Kindersley, 2005, 256p.)
This comprehensive book examines the science and componentry behind the modern technology developed in recent years. Divided into chapters with verbs as headings (eg. 'Connect', 'Play', 'Move' and 'Survive'), the full colour, well-designed and attractive pages provide brief explanations of how equipment such as MP3 players, voice recognition, microwave ovens, submersibles, virtual keyboards and pacemakers work.
(TECHNOLOGY)