The Weather Disaster (Mad Scientist Academy Series #2)

by Matthew McElligott

Overview

Fans of Ada Twist, Scientist, will want to join Dr. Cosmic’s class of clever monsters as they face down snow, floods, and a dangerous thunderstorm when freak weather conditions threaten the school in the second book of the Mad Scientist Academy series.
 
Dr. Cosmic can’t wait to introduce the students to his latest invention, the CHAOS machine, designed to keep the school at the right temperature for learning. But when the machine starts to malfunction, causing extreme weather conditions, the students must use their upgraded handbooks to stop CHAOS before it destroys the entire school!
 
Join Dr. Cosmic’s clever class of monsters as they solve the greatest challenges in science, in this blend of adventure and exploration, perfect for Common Core and STEM.

"With outlandish situations rendering scientific concepts memorable, McElligott has concocted a winning formula for learning as entertainment."--Kirkus Reviews

"Science fans and comics enthusiasts will dive right into this . . . There's enough fun here for anyone." —School Library Journal

"Engaging and educational." —Booklist

"No need for MSA kids to take a field trip: what could be more interesting than school?" —The Bulletin

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780553523805
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	07/05/2016
Series:	Mad Scientist Academy Series , #2
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	187 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Matthew McElligott is the author of many books for children, including Mad Scientist Academy: The Dinosaur Disaster, Even Monsters Need Haircuts, and the Benjamin Franklinstein series. Like a cumulonimbus cloud, he is associated with hot air, gray skies, and raining on parades. In spite of this, a beautiful woman named Christy married him and now helps him with all his books. You can visit him at matthewmcelligott.com and madscientistbooks.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Mad Scientist Academy: The Dinosaur Disaster
“An informative but hair-raising tour of a rather-too-realistic dinosaur exhibit gives six new students a memorable first day at Mad Scientist Academy. . . . Mad fun.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred

“Like Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen’s Magic School Bus series (Scholastic), the use of a school setting, a quirky teacher, and wild hands-on learning situations provides an engaging blend of humor, adventure, and information.” —School Library Journal

Kids’ Indie Next List

“One of Summer’s Must-Read Children’s Books.” —Bookish.com

From the Publisher

06/01/2016
K-Gr 4—Dr. Cosmic and his Mad Scientist Academy students are back for a second outing that is truly out there. The green-faced, wild-haired Dr. Cosmic has invented a wearable weather balloon and a CHAOS (Cooling/Heating Airflow Operating System) machine and is unnervingly optimistic about their success. As will no doubt be the pattern throughout the series, the students must absorb a crash course in this curriculum so that they can save both the professor and the day. Even adults reading the book aloud at school or at home will learn a few things. The colorful comic strip format is varied and dramatic. Not all readers will linger over the occasional info-packed box ("The Water Cycle," "Types of Precipitation," etc.), but the facts are made optimally interesting through dramatic and funny illustrations. Drama, humor, color, and format are indeed the main elements that make this and the previous volume so enticing—along with the occasional "KABOOM!" and "KA-BAM!" VERDICT Science fans and comics enthusiasts will dive right into this, but don't deprive other readers; there's enough fun here for anyone.—Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY

School Library Journal

2016-03-30
Having survived disastrous dinosaurs in the first series installment, students at the Mad Scientist Academy now attempt to comprehend the mystery of weather. Six students make up the class assembled outside the laboratory: an amphibious creature, a werewolf, a robot, a vampire, a giant insect, and a monster resembling Frankenstein's. Dr. Cosmic, whose flaming red hair recalls another cartoon scientist beloved by children, is ensconced in a wearable weather balloon, ready to test its efficacy. His colleague, meteorologist Nimbus, works the controls. As the sphere spins into the atmosphere, readers follow his progress and study charts to learn how clouds form and what causes wind, rain, and snow. Sequential panels move the plot forward and present information, while double-page spreads portray climactic moments, such as when the students try to apply what they have learned to correct the flood in the greenhouse and the snowstorm in the pool house by creating a tornado with the CHAOS machine. (The rear endpapers spell it out: Cooling/Heating Airflow Operating System.) Characters use their particular attributes to solve problems and help one another. Adults will appreciate the knowledge imparted in this STEM-friendly series as well as the encouragement to question, measure, and experiment; children will be attracted to the appealing caricatures and the cyclone wreaking havoc on the cover. With outlandish situations rendering scientific concepts memorable, McElligott has concocted a winning formula for learning as entertainment. (backmatter) (Graphic science fantasy. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews