AMANDA, TOY ENGINEER

A nonfiction children’s book offers a detailed profile of a toy engineer.

The narration in Amanda Bright’s voice explains to young readers that “anything you can touch has been worked on by an engineer.” This includes toys—which are first dreamed up by designers and then presented to engineers, who must decide how to make ideas into real (and profitable) playthings. Kids who dream of working on making “the impossible possible” will enjoy descriptions of how teams of engineers consider questions of safety, test toys out on young audiences, and create prototypes and production models before a company orders factories to make the finished object. The “Around the World” chapter describes how Amanda’s job involves traveling to different places that manufacture various kinds of toys, and a map labels countries relevant to toy production (“Doll clothing is often sewn in Indonesia where beautiful fabrics are found”). Factory workers’ conditions, pollution, and plastic waste are not mentioned. Interviews with Amanda, presented with Moore’s photographs of the White engineer and eye-catching formatting, reveal her love of pets and running, her struggles with imposter syndrome, and her favorite food (khao soi). A short narrative of Amanda’s self-advocacy and hard work through high school and university shows possible paths for children who may wish to become engineers, though Andrus does not address systemic discrimination. Amanda notes that she adores science and math and was also motivated by her family’s lack of money to find a stable, well-paying job. In this first installment of a series highlighting women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, activities invite kids to inspect their beloved toys. They are urged to think about what materials were needed for the toys’ creation and how to improve them and to ponder their favorite ways to play. Further sections prompt reflective journaling: What goals are you determined to achieve? When have you felt brave? Young science enthusiasts will find intriguing details about how objects are produced. The work also encourages readers to plan their own future contributions.

A captivating account about an engineer that’s information-packed and personal.