PPBF: Galileo's Leaning Tower Experiment

Welcome to Perfect Picture Book Fridays, where we review picture books which we deem worthy of mention.  This concept was created by Susanna Hill, and is a helpful resource for librarians, teachers and parents.  For a list of all books reviewed so far, along with activities to complement them, click here.

Author: Wendy Macdonald
Illustrator: Paolo Rui
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Date: 2000

Ages: 7-11

Themes: Galileo, scientists, gravity, experiments

Jacket Flap: The Farm Boy and the Scientist: Every week Massimo the farm boy delivers lunch to his uncle-by dropping it off a bridge onto his uncle's boat. One day, a stranger notices something odd about the way the food falls. The heavier cheese and the lighter bread land at the exact moment. How can this be?
The stranger is the young professor Galileo. Together he and Massimo start to explore the way objects fall. What happens if you drop a feather and a hammer? A rock and a sheet of paper? To test their ideas, they conduct one of the most famous experiments of all time.

First paragraph: Massimo threw a stone off the bridge and watched it fall-plop-into the river. "Hey, Massimo! Why don't you come with me?" called a boy herding a flock of goats across the bridge. Massimo waved. "Thanks, but I have to wait for my uncle's boat."

Why I like this book: We need more picture books that convey a fairly complex concept in simple terms. "Galileo" does that, and retells an important part of history at the same time. The photos are appealing, and the text engaging, as they draw us into the story of another era.

Activities for Kids:

Galileo's Leaning Tower Experiment can be found here.

Fun Activities for the country of Italy here

Leaning Tower activities, here.

Architectural activities here.

Activities for Galileo himself, here.

Enjoy your day!

Arrivederci, Roma!

We had an uneventful crossing via a modern and well equipped ferry to Bari, where we were met by a British fellow, Christopher, who has been a stellar guide for the last two days in Roma.  We had a delightful ride through the pastoral countryside, full of grapevines and olive trees.

How exciting to finally meet up with my good friend Karen and her two teens, Luke and Isabel, who have be roughing it throughout Italy for the last 5 weeks.  We ate all our meals with them, catching up on all our adventures. It was a short, but sweet reunion, and hard to say goodbye, since we will not see each other for another year!

Rome is a fast paced city, with thousands of shops, people, and years of history.  We toured just about every historical site as allowed in two days (see last blog).  The pizza, gelato, cappuccino, and granita (frozen expresso, strong enough to curl your hair...soo good), were a welcome treat.

Tomorrow morning, we head to the airport to begin our journey home, stopping in London (hopefully to meet up with Andrew and Katie), and then on to JFK, a taxi to Laguardia, and a flight out to Chicago...we arrive, Lord willing, late Sunday eve.

It has been a wonderful trip, but we are exhausted (just this afternoon, we ran for 6 blocks to catch a shuttle to our hotel).  It will be good to get home, and share all that we have experienced.  Thanks again for all your prayers...ciao!

Addendum: We did indeed have a whirlwind tour of Pompeii, and Rome. First, the Vatican, and all it's treasures (I loved the Hall of Maps...the ceiling paintings, some of which looked 3D were amazing), and then St. Peter's. Later in the day, we visited the Church of the "Three Fountains" where supposedly Paul was beheaded. As he was, "tradition" says that his head bounced three times, and at each bounce, a fountain sprang forth! What amazed me was the original Roman Road that led up to the Church. The next day, we visited the Forum (similar to the Agora in Greece), where business, politics and religion met. Paul would have stood here as he was being convicted and sentenced. The Mamertina Prison, where tradition says Paul would have been held, was just a sewer hole in the ground, and located just off the Forum. Earlier, we visited the Coliseum, where, interestingly, we are told that there is no record of Christians being martyred here (maybe in the Circus Maximus down the road, they say). It was awesome to see the lower level, under the platform, where the animals (and probably Christians) would have been kept. Even the catacombs, it seems, were just a burial ground for Christians, given to them by the Roman gov't. Authorities claim that it is too damp, and not conducive for living. And yet, I find it revealing that we are told of a hated brother of a Roman Emperor who ruled just for a short time, and was stricken off the records (and the capital of an arch in the forum), pretending he never existed..hmmmm.
The Treve Fountain was beautiful...no, we did not throw in a coin to assure our return (we had none), or make a wish, but, as we ate pizza across from the fountain, a couple was engaged, and a young man escaped from the Polizi up the street with stolen goods. Yes, it happens, even (and especially) in Roma!