Rosie Revere and the Raucous Riveters

This is the first of a new series entitled The Questioneers by the team who created the highly successful picturebook series which introduced eponymous heroes Rosie Revere Engineer, Iggy Peck Architect and Ada Twist Scientist. Now in first chapter book format young fans can continue to follow this memorable trio as they tackle new problems using their scientific and technical know-how.

In this first Questioneer story Rosie Revere had been unsuccessfully trying to solve her zoo keeper uncle’s snake problem using copious amounts of ketchup when another relative in need of her engineering help arrives. Aunt Rose takes her to meet a group of (presumably very?) elderly ladies who had been the Blue River Riveters, working on air plane assembly lines during the Second World War. One of them, June, has broken her wrists and is in plaster. Rosie’s task is to create an invention to enable June to take part in a forthcoming art competition. Together with friends Iggy and Ada and unexpected help from mysterious neighbour Mrs Lu, Rosie invents the Paintapalooza, which after a few false starts proves a successful invention.

With the theme of perseverance, helping others, and the nature of home this story also raises awareness of the role of women in war work and introduces the original Rosie the Riveter. Additional pages encourage young readers to find out about the life stories older people in their communities may be able to tell. An engaging story with humour and perfectly matched illustrations and layout including pages from Ada’s notebook showing her ideas, design notes and false starts. There is also information (and a poem) about valves exploring the physics behind the imaginary Paintapalooza.