Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Copycat Science
Mike Barfield · 2020
82/100
👍 Worth It
A genuinely clever format — comic-strip scientist biography followed immediately by a hands-on experiment inspired by their work — that gives STEM history a kinetic, do-it-yourself energy rather than a museum-diorama feel. Kirkus covered it, the experiments use household materials, and the comic format is a proven on-ramp for reluctant readers. The biographical brevity across 40+ scientists means some facts get smoothed over, but the overall package is one of the more creative science activity books available for this age group.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety97
substance80
craft84
originality84
accuracy76
hype82
age-fit88
human-eye84
Penny’s verdict82
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