Gadgets and Games: Design and Engineering for STEM

Chris Oxlade is an experienced author of non-fiction books for children. He has written more than 200 titles on science, technology, sports and hobbies, from encyclopedia articles to fun activity books.

Gr 5-7-With a focus on STEM, these volumes survey their subject areas in dry but carefully structured ways, following common industrial products from initial designs to eventual disposals. For example, Clothes explains how garments develop from designs to become goods that are ultimately recycled, reused, or thrown away. Each generalized stage and concept is explained, summed up, recapped, and supplemented with diagrams, color photos, statistics, case studies, and historical notes-plus, both research topics and resource lists in the back matter. Approached cold, the staid prose and visuals are unlikely to kindle readers' interest, but where an enthusiasm for clothes, gadgets, architecture, and cars already exists, there is plenty here to broaden and deepen it. α(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.