Flick a Switch: How Electricity Gets to Your Home by Barbara Seuling, Nancy Tobin (Illustrator)

Linda Ruble - Children's Literature

Did you know that there are bits of electricity in everything, including the human body? Flick A Switch is a fascinating, well-written book that traces the intricate route electricity takes from its generation at a power plant to powering our homes and businesses. Along the way are several side notes including one that explains how static electricity was discovered in Greece by a mathematician, and another that describes how when too many electrons collect in a cloud and get pushed out, the result is a burst of lightning. Ben Franklin is included, of course, as well as Michael Faraday who invented the first generator, thereby producing a safe way to make electricity. The topic of electricity is a complex one, and author Seuling does an admirable job of presenting the data. A few experiments are contained in the book as well, including how to make a simple electrical switch. The illustrations are colorful and entertaining and impart nearly as much information as the text itself. 2003, Holiday House, Ages 8 to 12.

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3-This attempt to explain the nature and transmission of electricity is too simplified to provide much understanding. The first page poses three questions: How does electricity work? Where did it come from? How did it get into the house? Only the third question is answered adequately, by showing a system of wires extending from a power plant into a home. Instead of defining electrons and then demonstrating that electricity is the flow of electrons from one atom to another, the book merely says that "There are little bits of electric power in everything. These little bits are called electrons." The text explains the phenomenon of brushed hair standing on end by saying, "That's the electricity in your hair being stirred up." The resinous substance amber, used by the ancient Greek Thales to produce static electricity, is referred to as a "stone." Michael Faraday's 1831 generator, constructed of a magnet and coil of copper wire, is said to have produced electricity when "The magnet stirred up electrons." Focusing on the more complex, modern electrical apparatus in a power plant, the book says, "A large magnet inside stirs up electrons." With all that "stirring," children may wonder if this was meant to be a cookbook. The illustrations are bold, colorful cartoons. Some feature a young African-American girl and her dog. The characters' dialogue, in balloons, is a corny distraction from any scientific information provided on the same page. Robert Snedden's The History of Electricity (Raintree, 1995; o.p.) has clearer explanations.-Lynda Ritterman, Atco Elementary School, Waterford, NJ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

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