Product Reviewed: 11 Experiments That Failed, by Jenny Offill & Nancy Carpenter
Age Range: 5-8 year olds
Star Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
The Good: A humorous story that introduces kids to the scientific method in a fun and whimsical way.
The Bad: Slightly US-centric. May encourage kids to try a few experiments you wished they wouldn’t!
The Verdict: Would make a lovely gift for 5-7 year old girls.
11 Experiments That Failed
This delightful story book features a young female protagonist who, armed with safety goggles, a lab coat, and a curious mind, proceeds through a series of 11 increasingly outrageous science experiments, each of which fail spectacularly.
The illustrations and layout are just delightful. They are quirky, with a mixed media feel, and add as much to the storyline as the words.
Each experiment follows the scientific method, listing the question, hypothesis, materials list, step-by-step instructions, and results. Some of the experiments you could try at home (if you dare). Others are perhaps best left to the imagination.
Whilst each experiment fails to confirm the original hypothesis, the results are still documented factually. This method helps kids to understand that, in science, we can learn from all experiments, even those that don’t work out how we’d planned.
As a mother of two science-loving young girls, I love that this book features a young girl who clearly loves dressing up like a scientist, doing science experiments and using scientific materials (beakers, test tubes, pipettes, etc). Whilst her mother may be bewildered by it all, this young girl clearly thinks that science is awesome, leaping from experiment to (failed) experiment with enthusiasm. She’s infectious!
Pros and Cons
Positives
- This book does a great job of making science look cool.
- More importantly, it does a great job of making science look cool for girls.
- It encourages girls to invent their own experiments, using items from around the house.
- It teaches kids how to structure an experiment using the scientific method, and helps to familiarise them scientific words (such as hypothesis), and scientific equipment (lab coats, safety googles, beakers, pipettes, etc).
- It opens up discussions about how experiments can fail, and may help perfectionist kids to understand that an experiment that doesn’t confirm the original hypothesis can still provide useful results.
- Humorous for kids and adults alike.
Negatives
- As Australians, we found some of the words to be US-centric. In Australia, we say tomato sauce instead of ketchup, for example. And I’d never heard of bologna before (which I think is similar to what we call it devon).
- Young kids may take the story more literally than it’s intended, so the humour may need some explaining.
What does my daughter think?
My almost 6 year old daughter Jewel views this book a bit like slapstick comedy. The experiments that the protagonist undertakes are so outlandish and exaggerated that Jewel finds it hilarious, but I don’t think she could actually tell you why.
Jewel said that she thought she was a lot smarter than the girl, because she already knew these experiments wouldn’t work! I asked Jewel how she knew, if she hadn’t tried them? At which point, with a twinkle in her eye, Jewel suggested attempting to grow mould in one of her sister’s old shoes. Then we started brainstorming good mould growing locations around our house: apparently under the stairs looks promising….
Other Key Features {that might be handy to know}
- Published by Schwartz & Wade books (Random House), 2011.
- We have the hardcover version, which measures 29cm x 24.5cm x 1cm, with dust jacket.
- The end papers are quite lovely too.
Where to Buy
We bought our copy of 11 Experiments That Failed online from The Book Depository. You can also find it on Amazon.com (for the US) and Amazon.co.uk (for the UK). It might also (hopefully) be on-shelf at your local book-store. I understand it’s been in high demand, so fingers crossed it’s in stock for you!
Check out our other book reviews:
- Ivy + Bean Break the Fossil Record chapter book with awesome positive female palaentology role models,
- Dream Jobs Sticker Dolly Dressing activity book with lots of STEM positive career choices for girls,
- and more ideas on our Gift Ideas for Science-Loving Girls page.
Disclaimer: I wasn’t paid for this review. All opinions are my (or my kids’) own. This post does, at my own discretion, contain affiliate links. An affiliate link means I may earn referral / advertising fees if you make a purchase through my link, without any extra cost to you. Referral / advertising fees from various sources help keep this little project afloat. Thank you for your support and understanding, I really appreciate it.