Book Review: Ellie, Engineer by Jackson Pearce

Ellie, EngineerEllie, Engineer by Jackson Pearce
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: January 16, 2018
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Description:

Ellie is an engineer. With a tool belt strapped over her favorite skirt (who says you can’t wear a dress and have two kinds of screwdrivers handy, just in case?), she invents and builds amazing creations in her backyard workshop. Together with her best friend Kit, Ellie can make anything. As Kit’s birthday nears, Ellie doesn’t know what gift to make until the girls overhear Kit’s mom talking about her present–the dog Kit always wanted! Ellie plans to make an amazing doghouse, but her plans grow so elaborate that she has to enlist help from the neighbor boys and crafty girls, even though the two groups don’t get along. Will Ellie be able to pull off her biggest project yet, all while keeping a secret from Kit?

Illustrated with Ellie’s sketches and plans, and including backmatter with a fun how-to guide to tools, this is a STEM- and friendship-powered story full of fun!

Ellie loves to solve problems by building solutions. For instance, when the neighborhood boys won’t let Ellie and her friend Kit join in their soccer game, she designs and builds a water balloon launcher and soaks them! When she hears that Kit’s mom is going to get Kit a dog for her birthday she decides to build her a dog house for her birthday present. It’s going to be her biggest project yet and will require help from a lot of other kids. Can she keep this project a secret from her very best friend until Kit’s birthday party?

This book incorporated a STEM aspect into it without hitting the reader over the head with it or getting too technical for the intended age group – two through fourth grade. Ellie loves projects but she’s a well-rounded kid with tons of personality. She likes tea parties too. I liked that before she started a project, she sketched it out and that the sketch was included in the book. That’s really helpful for readers like me that have trouble picturing those types of things in their heads. I’ve never seen a home-made French braider before! There is also a handy dandy illustrated glossary of tools at the end. I think this book will appeal to girls and boys alike, no matter how handy they themselves actually are. It’s a great story that shows that girls can be into more than just dolls and tea parties. Highly recommended.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book for review.)