Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea BeatyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
The second Questioneer book, Rosie Revere, Engineer. Gives us another example of how to handle adults in children’s literature.
Here we have an example of adults being help. They are present just long enough to push the plot in meaningful ways - then they step back and let the child protagonist shine.
ROSIE REVERE, ENGINEER
BY: ANDREA BEATY
PUBLISHED: ABRAMS BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
YEAR: 2013
AGES: 4-8
PAGES: 32
P1: Title Page
P2 - P3:
This is the story of Rosie Revere, who dreamed of becoming a great engineer. In Lila Greer’s classroom at Blue River Creek, young Rosie sat shyly, not daring to speak.
P4-P5
But when no one saw her, she peeked in the trash for treasures to add to her engineer’s stash.
And late, late at night, Rosie rolled up her sleeves and built in her hideaway under the eaves.
P6
Alone in her attic, the moon high above, dear Rosie made gadgets and gizmos she loved.
P7
And when she grew sleepy, she hid her machines far under the bed, where they’d never be seen.
P8 -P9
When Rosie was young, she had not been so shy. She worked with her hair swooping over one eye and made fine inventions for uncles and aunts: a hot dog dispenser and helium pants.
P10-P11
The uncle she loved most was Zookeeper Fred. She made him a hat (to keep snakes off his head) from parts of a fan and some cheddar cheese spray - which everyone knows keeps pythons away.
P12 - P13
And when it was finished, young Rosie was proud, but Fred slapped his knee and chuckled out loud. He laughed till he wheezed and his eyes filled with tears, all to the horror of Rosie Revere, who stood there embarrassed, perplexed and dismayed. She looked at the cheese hat and then looked away.
“I love it,” Fred hooted. “Oh truly I do.” But Rosie Revere knew that could not be true. She stuck the cheese hat on the back of her shelf and after that day kept her dreams to herself.
Here we are giving two meaningful characteristics about Rosie. One, she loves to build things; two, she feels the need to
hide her inventions. We learn that this impulse to hide her creations was caused by a miscommunication with her favorite Uncle.
Adult as motivation or driver of conflict is something children in this age range can relate to. How often does a young child misunderstand the reactions of adults and are left feeling shamed, or scared or misunderstood themselves?
This touch of relatable conflict makes Rosie’s my favorite of the three stories we’ll discuss in this series.
(I also have a special place in my heart for Aaron Slator the Illustrator. I’ll probably find an excuse to write about him later).
The Uncle is an example how an adult character can help move the plot along. The story continues with an example of how another adult character can help the young protagonist without taking over the story.
ACT II
P14-P15
And that’s how it went until one autumn day. Her oldest relation showed up for a stay. Her great-great-aunt Rose was a true dynamo who’d worked building airplanes a long time ago. She told Rosie tales of the things she had done and goals she had checked off her list one by one.
She gave a sad smile as she looked to the sky: “the only thrill left on my list is to fly! But time never lingers as long as it seems. I’ll chalk that one up to an old lady’s dreams.”
Like Mrs Greer, Great Aunt Rose has a backstory - an unacquainted dream this time. It isn’t as ridiculous as Greer’s story, but it also happens to center on the MC’s interests as an engineer. This sets up Great-great-Aunt Rose as a mentor character because she shares the same interests as, and similar background with Rose.
Having a mentor character also sets Rosie up to have someone worth impressing again. That means she's not just inspired make something. She's inspired to make something with the intention of showing it off.
P16
That night, as Rosie lay wide-eyed in bed a daring idea crept into her head. Could she build a gizmo to help her aunt fly? She looked at the cheese hat and said “No, not I.”
P17
But questions are tricky, and some hold on tight, and this one kept Rosie awake through the night. So when dawn approached and red streaks lit the sky, young Rosie knew just how to make her aunt fly.
P18 - P19
She worked and she worked til the day was half gone, then hauled her cheese-copter out onto the lawn to give her invention a test just to see the ridiculous flop it might turn out to be.
P20
Strapped into the cockpit, she flipped on the switch. The heli-o-cheese-copter sputtered and twitched.
P21
It floated a moment and whirled around and round, then froze for a heartbeat and crashed to the ground.
P22 - P23
Then Rosie heard laughter and turned around to see the old woman laughing and slapping her knee. She laughed til she wheezed and her eyes filled with tears all to the horror of Rosie Revere, who thought “Oh, no! Never! Not ever again will I try to build something to sputter or spin or build with a lever, a switch, or a gear. And never will I be a great engineer.”
P24 - P25
She turned around to leave, but then Great-Great-Aunt Rose grabbed hold of young Rosie and pulled her in close and hugged her and kissed her and started to cry.
“You did it! Hooray! It’s the perfect first try! This great flop is over. It’s time for the next! “
Young Rosie was baffled, embarrassed, perplexed.
“I failed,” said dear Rosie. “It’s just made of trash. Didn’t you see it? The cheese-copter crashed.”
“Yes!” Said her great aunt. “It crashed. That is true. But first it did just what it needed to do. Before it crashed, Rosie . . . . Before that . . . It flew!”
P26 - P27
“Your brilliant first flop was a raging success! Come on, let’s get busy and on to the next!” She handed a notebook to Rosie Revere, who smiled at her aunt as if all became clear.
Life might have its failures, but this was not it. The only true failure can come if you quit.
Beautiful. Auntie Rose is great as an assisting adult figure - ergo a mentor. Having had the experiences of an engineer before Auntie Rose is able to teach Rosie a lesson about persistence and the importance of failure in jobs such as this. Every failure teaches a lesson, and you will face multiple failures on the path to getting it right.
This is an essential lesson for creative jobs as well as STEM jobs. Mistakes MUST happen in order to succeed. This important lesson comes best from an adult who knows what Rosie was going through.
It’s also important that Auntie Rose is a gentle, encouraging figure in this moment of character building. Now that she knows her niece's interests let’s see how she further helps the story along.
ACT III
P28 - P29
They worked till the sun sneaked away to the its bed. Aunt Rose tied her headscarf around Rosie’s head and sent her to sleep with a smile ear-to-ear to dream the bold dreams of a great engineer.
P30
At Blue River Creek all the kids in grade two build gizmos and gadgets and doohickeys too.
P31
With each perfect failure, they all stand and cheer, but none quiet as proudly as Rosie Revere.
Rosie learns that she is already a pretty great engineer. She got to hang out with her cool Great Aunt.
As a mentor Auntie Rose didn’t take over the project. She didn’t tell Rosie her junk wouldn’t work. She doesn't take Rosie to a "real" hanger with "professional" tools. Instead Auntie Rose assisted with the project Rosie was already working on. As a result of Auntie Rose’s encouragement, Rosie’s confidence is boosted.
Aunt Rosie’s lesson about the importance of great failures empowers her niece. Little Rosie then goes on to empower her class.
I’m curious about the choice to put the credits at the end. Personally it makes more since to me but it’s unusual.
P32: Copyright; Acknowledgments; Historical Note
END
MY TAKE AWAY
I liked this story more than the Iggy Peck one. The character having a personal challenge to solve made me like her more. I felt more invested in her story. Great Aunt Rose was more likable than Mrs. Greer something to note for own writing.
My adult brain worries that these stories will make kids feel like they should naturally know exactly what they ought to be in life by the age of two. But let’s see what my daughter thinks
BEDTIME BREAKDOWN!
Unfortunately, my daughter was not interested in the any of the Questioneer books. She’s only two so the subjects and vocabulary were a little over her head. I’ll try them on her again in a few years, but for now we’ll just move on.
If you like these books by Andrea Beaty please consider purchasing them from your favorite local book story or renting them from the library.
I’ve been Porsche B. Yeary
I’ll see you on the next page.