Professor Goose Debunks the Three Little Pigs
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
Mother Goose's fairy tales are NOT based in science, and her great niece Professor Goose thinks it's time to share the truth. Join Professor Goose as she — literally — travels through the pages of The Three Little Pigs, fact-checking, exposing the flaws and explaining the science. Did you know that pigs run in a zigzag pattern? And that there's no way a wolf's breath would be strong enough to blow down anything, even if he has his whole pack with him? And that hay bales are strong enough to resist most up, down and sideways forces? Sounds like the perfect material for building a house! . . . Or, not. But not to worry — Professor Goose is armed with helpful hints on how to make a structure strong enough to withstand hurricane forces!
Jammed with jokes and hilarious illustrations, this book entertains while it introduces basic scientific laws and rules to young readers. At the back of the book, readers will find Professor Goose's new, carefully researched fairy tale ending as well as her favorite facts about coding!
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
February 13, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780735267336
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 1, 2024
A famous fairy tale gets a scientific fact check. Righteously waddling in to correct the supposed errors in this "faulty" classic, Mother Goose's academically trained great-niece Marie Curious Goose retells a kinder, gentler version of "The Three Little Pigs" in which everyone survives. Along the way, she offers a running critique. Noting that pigs don't have chins (only humans do, in point of fact) and scoffing at the notion that any wolf would have the lung power to blow down a house, she branches out to explain how the plot could have been more efficiently told by coding its repetitive elements with a looping algorithm. She also discusses how, like all the things that come in threes here, there are patterns to be found in nature, music, and math. She does make a few iffy claims and contradicts herself on the same page about whether straw is, or is not, a good building material, but overall readers will come away more aware of how the story connects, and takes liberties, with the real world. Bourgeois brings home the bacon with a quick afterword on the history of computer languages, from Ada Lovelace's contributions to Fortran. Griffiths' jovial cartoon illustrations add humor. A STEM-centric take, well worth wolfing down. (Picture book/folktale. 6-9)COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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February 2, 2024
Gr 2-5-Bourgeois (the "Franklin the Turtle" series) adds a new title to the "Professor Goose Debunks" line with this STEM-themed adaptation of the "Three Little Pigs." The good professor deploys STEM concepts to debunk the story's key tropes, such as how easily the wolf could blow down the pigs' houses. The transition between story and analysis is abrupt when the plot point the goose is debunking is not obvious. Still, adult readers can make up a framing question to ease the transitions, i.e., "Do you think the wolf could blow down the pig's house that easily?" The text is otherwise playful and creative, providing many interesting facts and thorough explanations of STEM concepts. The illustrations are cartoony with vibrant colors that will draw readers in and have them storming through other fairy tales and nursery rhymes looking for flaws in logic and physics. VERDICT A thought-provoking expansion of the classic fairy tale that children didn't know they needed, this will find numerous applications in the classroom.-Maria Bohan
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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