Rosie Revere, Engineer
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the The Why-Askers stage.
Why it fits The Why-Askers (for preschoolers whose every page sparks a question)
Rosie's flying machine crashes - and her great-great-aunt cheers, because it flew before it crashed. Failure reframed as data is a gift that lasts a lifetime. Rhyming STEM with real emotional stakes.
What makes it special
Its crash-and-cheer scene — 'it flew before it crashed!' — reframes failure as progress with surgical precision. Roberts' delicate ink-and-watercolor contraptions make engineering look like something done in a good dress. For children growing up performance-anxious, Aunt Rose's lesson is armor.
From the publisher
Rosie may seem quiet during the day, but at night she's a brilliant inventor of gizmos and gadgets who dreams of becoming a great engineer. When her great-great-aunt Rose (Rosie the Riveter) comes for a visit and…
About Andrea Beaty
Andrea Beaty studied biology and computer science before becoming the poet laureate of kid engineering — her Questioneers series (Rosie, Iggy, Ada) has sold millions and put 'failure is data' on classroom walls everywhere.
Beaty worked in tech support and watched adults fear mistakes daily; Rosie Revere was her answer, written in bouncing verse because, she has said, courage goes down easier with rhythm.
Also by this author: Iggy Peck, Architect · Ada Twist, Scientist · Sofia Valdez, Future Prez
More from “What If and Why Not”
This book is part of The Best Books for Preschoolers: 30 Teacher Picks (The Why-Askers) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.