Just Like Rube Goldberg: The Incredible True Story of the Man Behind the Machines

by Sarah Aronson (Author) Robert Neubecker (Illustrator)

Just Like Rube Goldberg: The Incredible True Story of the Man Behind the Machines
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Discover how Rube Goldberg followed his dreams to become an award-winning cartoonist, inventor, and even an adjective in the dictionary in this inspiring and funny biographical picture book.

Want to become an award-winning cartoonist and inventor? Follow your dreams, just like Rube Goldberg! From a young age, Rube Goldberg had a talent for art. But his father, a German immigrant, wanted Rube to have a secure job. So, Rube went to college and became an engineer.

But Rube didn't want to spend his life mapping sewer pipes. He wanted to follow his passion, so Rube got a low-level job at a newspaper, and from there, he worked his way up, creating cartoons that made people laugh and tickled the imagination. He became known for his fantastic Rube Goldberg machines--complicated contraptions with many parts that performed a simple task in an elaborate and farfetched way. Eventually, his cartoons earned him a Pulitzer Prize and his own adjective in the dictionary. This moving biography is sure to encourage young artists and inventors to pursue their passions.

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School Library Journal

Gr 3-5--Everyone loves a Rube Goldberg machine, whether you've been mesmerized by a complicated toast-making, orange juice pouring contraption in a movie (you know the type), played Mousetrap, or worked on a slightly wacky high school science project to build one yourself. Aronson's picture book biography recounts moments from the life of an imaginative young boy turned discontented engineer turned driven newspaper cartoonist. Goldberg's observant nature and playful spirit produced decades of popular diagrams of totally unlikely and labyrinthine inventions for the world to enjoy. Aronson's narrative hovers between thoughtful biography and an inspirational tribute to Goldberg's work, which will leave readers wanting more information, especially about the cultural legacy of his ubiquitous cartoons. Neubecker's illustrations are animated and precise, connecting the unpredictable threads of the cartoonist's life to the spirit of his inventions. An image of a dizzyingly complicated sewer system calls to mind the early 20th-century milieu of discovery, invention, and rapid social change in which Goldberg's work was born and flourished. VERDICT Playful illustrations drive this loving biography for elementary-school-age inventors and dreamers.--Emilia Packard, Austin, TX

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

In opening pages, Aronson describes artist and inventor Rube Goldberg: "In a funny way, his life was just like one of his famous inventions: an improbable and inefficient chain reaction that ends up making perfect sense." As a child, shy Goldberg immersed himself in drawing, but when his parents didn't support his plans to become a cartoonist, he studied engineering, then quit his steady job to follow his dream and embrace an alter ego. Aronson reveals Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, "who invented one intricate machine after another." Neubecker's idiosyncratic art depicts several of Professor Butts's contraptions--one that elaborately punches holes in doughnuts, another that turns off a light. Readers will enjoy Goldberg's brilliantly impractical inventions and nutty personality. Ages 3-8. (Mar.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Aronson has created an eminently readable book that will engage and surprise readers young and old....Particularly appropriate to use for Invention Conventions, STEAM units, or Odyssey of the Mind, this engaging read-aloud will make an enjoyable introduction to inquiry and problem solving in creative ways.—School Library Connection "March/April 2019 "
Sarah Aronson
Sarah Aronson began writing for kids and teens when someone in an exercise class dared her to try. Since then, she has earned an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and published three novels: Head Case, Beyond Lucky, and Believe. Her most recent books are part of a new young middle grade series about the worst fairy godmother ever, The Wish List. She is the cofounder and organizer of the Writing Novels for Young People Retreat at VCFA and has served as an SCBWI mentor in both Illinois and Michigan. She lives in Evanston, Illinois.

Robert Neubecker is the author and illustrator of Linus the Vegetarian T. Rex and of his own Wow! series. He is also the award-winning illustrator of Shiver Me Timbers by Douglas Florian, Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth by Sarah Weeks, I Got Two Dogs by John Lithgow, and Monsters on Machines by Deb Lund. A graduate of Parsons School of Design, Robert also illustrates for The New York Times and Slate magazine. After twenty years in Manhattan, he and his family live in Park City, Utah. Visit Robert at Neubecker.com.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781481476683
Lexile Measure
690
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Beach Lane Books
Publication date
March 20, 2019
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF007010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Art
JNF061010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Technology | Inventions
JNF006010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Art | Cartooning
Library of Congress categories
Biographies
United States
Cartoonists
Goldberg, Rube

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