GREETINGS. (BEEP BOOP.) I HAVE BEEN PROGRAMMED TO TRANSMIT A DELICIOUS RECIPE AND THREE ENTERTAINING BOOKS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. ENGAGE BLOGGING SEQUENCE NOW…

Alright…enough of that. (While it is very fun pretending to be a robot, I can’t keep that up!) Besides, it is FAR better executed in one of the books I want to share about today…Robo-Sauce!

 

This book is hilarious, very creative and just the right amount of strange. It’s delightfully destructive protagonist doesn’t understand why his family doesn’t want to play robot with him. (Might have something to do with all the robo-poking, grabbing and stomping. “Squishy humans” are so sensitive.) But all his problems are solved when he discovers the recipe for “Robo-sauce,” which turns you into a “giant awesome robot.”

 

I do not know how illustrator Daniel Salmieri achieved this level of fluorescent orange, but it is magnificent and will awaken any child’s inner mad scientist. After downing a big gulp of the glowing goop, the now robo-fied protagonist proceeds to robo-rocket blast, robo-tornado and generally robo-wreak havoc everywhere. He then uses his robo-sauce launcher to robo-fy everyone and everything around him, including…the book itself. Describing how this book transforms into a robot won’t do its coolness justice, you just have to get your hands on it. It’s very cool.

So…let’s make ROBO-SAUCE! (OBviously.)

This recipe is really just an ice cream float with orange soda. Just scoop some vanilla ice cream (I prefer chocolate, but vanilla better achieves that robo-sauce glow) into a cup and pour some Fanta on top. Watch it bubble and fizz as you cackle like a mad scientist!

This is the most basic way of making robo-sauce, but there’s so many ways to draw out the experimentation aspect of it. Encourage your child to get curious and think like a true scientist. For example, try switching up the variables and see how the chemical reaction changes. What happens if the soda is cold? Hot? Bubbly vs. flat? What if you pre-melt the ice cream? What if you put the soda in the cup first and then add the ice cream? What if you add…a Mento???

With Halloween parties coming up, you could make a kooky Dr. Frankenstein-themed soda float buffet, with different flavors of soda and potentially-reactive candies to mix and match. A fun touch is to draw measuring lines on clear cups to make them look more like lab beakers. (Or, if you’ve got a chemistry-teaching friend that can hook you up with the real thing, go for it!)

If your child discovers a passion for science through this read (and tasty treat), consider checking out Ada Twist, Scientist as well. This little lady is curious from day one–and fearless to investigate her curiosities, even if it means frazzling her parents, brother, teachers and cat. She wants to know “Why?” “Why are there pointy things stuck to a rose? Why are there hairs up inside of your nose?” Told in charming rhyme (and with fabulously mod style straight out of the 1960s), Ada’s story will surely inspire more experimentation in young readers.

For the littlest scientists among us, check out Baby Loves Aerospace Engineering! (It’s part of a fun board book series, which includes babies who love quantum physics, thermo-dynamics and quarks as well.) It’s never too early to get a child interested in science. Who knows? You may have the next Mary Jackson on your hands!