Anderson, Maxine. Amazing Leonardo da Vinci inventions you can build yourself.

ANDERSON, Maxine. Amazing Leonardo da Vinci inventions you can build yourself. Nomad. 122p. illus. bibliog. index. c2006. 0-974934429. $14.95. J

A pleasurable read, Anderson's introduction of Leonardo da Vinci as a Renaissance genius encourages the young reader to appreciate the unconventional pathfinder. By viewing the Italian creator as the impetus to a host of inventions, children acquire an understanding of the ongoing nature of technological advances from their proposal to completion, however many centuries it takes. The text suggests ways of duplicating Leonardo's glider, tank, catapult, anemometer, and bicycle with ordinary art and craft tools found at home and school. A clever ornithopter requires cereal box, paper towel tube, toothpicks, and chopstick. Even simpler is the parachute, a challenge of geometrics involving marking and folding paper.

Dotting the text are Leonardo's actual schematics of the artillery shell, underwater shoes, and helicopter and the author's simple diagrams for hands-on recreations. A timeline, glossary, and bibliography of print and electronic sources enhance the use of this work for math and science classes and for home-school projects. Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Hickory, NC

J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers.