Mad Scientist Academy- smart, fun reading kids 9 and under will want to do

One of the great aspects of having multiple children is seeing the next projects that their favorite authors produce. When our 7 year old was 3, Even Aliens Need Snacks was one of his favorite books. That book was the sequel to the very popular Even Aliens Need Haircuts by Matthew McElligott. His new series of books is called the Mad Scientist Academy and is just as great as ‘snacks’, but completely different and aimed at slightly older children. The most recent book, The Weather Disaster is as educational as it is fun to read, which is something that a children’s books can rarely accomplish.

The Weather Disaster takes place at a school where all of the students and teachers are monsters. We see a werewolf, Frankenstein, robot-girl, fish-boy and others as they arrive to the academy for the day’s lessons with Dr. Cosmic. He’s in the back of the school grounds with Professor Nimbus, who is preparing some lessons on weather. Nimbus isn’t a monster, per se, but she looks like the Bride of Frankenstein, albeit with a mission of teaching kids about clouds, wind and other things.

Dr. Cosmic shows the students his latest invention, the Cooling/Heating Airflow Operating System. Note that the system’s acronym is ‘chaos’ and that’s exactly what happens. There’s a malfunction with the machine and the doctor splits the students up into two groups with one going to the greenhouse and the other going to the pool. He reminds them to use their handbooks and take measurements so that they can compile the information to get things working again.

Each group goes into their unique environments and the basic lessons that Professor Nimbus touched on are explained even further. Frankenstein realizes that it’s hot low where the plants are and the Vampire turns into a bat to discover that the air is cooler near the ceiling.

The Weather Disaster really succeeds as a book that educates much more so than older readers think that it would. Our 7 year old is reading simple chapter books, but still likes to read this because it’s fun, has great art with monsters and teaches him something he didn’t know. Younger readers will still enjoy this book from McElligott, but they won’t be able to read it.

From a comprehension level, our 7 year old can read it by him and understand most of the words. His 5 year old brother likes to look at the pictures, laugh at the silliness and learn just a bit. It’ll even teach some adults a bit about the weather that we might have forgotten-or simply need reinforcement.