Mara Rockliff (Gingerbread for Liberty!) and Iacopo Bruno, making his picture-book debut, combine a storyteller's lilt and an artist's flair for fashion in a mesmerizing story of history, science, personalities and the placebo effect.
King Louis XVI invites Ben Franklin to France to investigate a new arrival, Dr. Mesmer. At the outset, Rockliff describes the scientific method (using Franklin's kite experiments on lightning) and its four elements: observe, hypothesize, test, support. Then author and artist introduce Dr. Mesmer. In contrast to Franklin's bald spot and buckle shoes, Dr. Mesmer "wore a powdered wig and a fine coat of purple silk. He carried an iron wand. And he claimed to have discovered an astonishing new force." Rockliff artfully characterizes it in scientific terms: "Like a gas, this force could not be seen or touched. Like electricity, it held great power. Like the hot-air balloon, it made what seemed impossible come true." Then author and artist juxtapose its hocus-pocus side, as Dr. Mesmer emits bolts of energy from his fingertips: "Women swooned. Men sobbed. Children fell down in fits." While others "gasped and groaned--twitched and trembled" at Mesmer's assistant waving his wand, Ben Franklin did not. He developed an experiment (shown over two full spreads), before and after blindfolding a patient.
Besides successfully explaining the scientific method, and what we've come to call the placebo effect, author and artist give children insight into human behavior--with a large dose of humor. For history buffs, science enthusiasts, and fans of a good story, this one hits all the marks. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness