The invisible Fran

Jim Benton

Book - 2004

When Franny Stein, self-styled mad scientist, creates a robot to show her school friends the joys of science, she ends up learning something from them instead.

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Children's Room jFICTION/Benton, Jim Checked In
Children's Room jFICTION/Benton, Jim Checked In
Children's Room jFICTION/Benton, Jim Checked In
Subjects
Published
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers 2004.
Language
English
Main Author
Jim Benton (-)
Edition
1st ed
Physical Description
101 p. : ill
ISBN
9780689862977
9780689862939
  • 1. Franny's House
  • 2. Hobby Day
  • 3. Back at the Lab
  • 4. Oh No, We're Not
  • 5. Franny Tosses Her Cookies
  • 6. You Must Be Nuts. And Bolts
  • 7. Wire You Looking at My Robot That Way?
  • 8. In the Gizzard of the Lizard
  • 9. Let Me Make Myself Clear
  • 10. Children Should Be Heard and Not Seen
  • 11. Sneaking Out to Join the Circuits
  • 12. The New Robot Is a Smash Hit
  • 13. Fools + Tools = Busted-up Schools
  • 14. Stupider and Stupider
  • 15. Franny Ketches Up to the Robot
  • 16. Here, Let Me Give You a Hand
  • 17. Now You're Cooking
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-5-Hobby Day provides the perfect opportunity for Franny to share her passion for science with her classmates, but they only seem interested in mundane pastimes such as Irish step-dancing, accordion playing, stamp collecting, and baking cookies. She decides to capture their imaginations with an unfinished two-headed robot. Though the students are initially unimpressed, Franny concocts an invisibility formula and uses the power of suggestion to coax three of the children to work on it. Frantically correcting their misguided efforts, she convinces the clueless amateurs that they are indeed mad scientists. The plan backfires when the trio secretly returns to school to finish the job. By morning, their creation has wrecked the building. Misspelled graffiti and giant spit wads lead the horrified heroine to the library where she struggles to stop the reckless robot. Ironically, her friends save the day with their boring hobbies. As a final touch, Franny transforms the flattened robot into a pastry oven and bakes pretty cookies. Every page of the 19 short chapters features cartoons rendered in pen, ink, and watercolor. The pigtailed protagonist looks suitably "mad" with her demonic grin and narrowed eyes. Children will particularly enjoy the image of the cafeteria ladies secretly sculpting a life-size model from lunch meat. Beginning readers and fans of the popular cartoon Dexter's Laboratory will enjoy this offering.-Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

Trying to get her classmates interested in her hobby of ""mad science,"" Franny drinks a formula to make herself invisible and then influences other kids to work on her homemade robot. The catastrophic consequences are typically exaggerated in this fast-paced episode, but the illustrations look rushed and the humor seems more forced than earlier volumes in this series. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Chapter Seven: Wire You Looking At My Robot That Way? Franny sat at her desk, grinning. She couldn't wait to give her presentation. "Franny," Miss Shelly said, "would you please come up here and show the class what you've brought in?" Franny walked confidently to the front of the class. She knew that the kids would take one look at the robot and abandon their ridiculous hobbies. She removed the sheet that had been draped over her creation. The kids gasped. It was a robot. A few lights pulsed slowly on its chest, and they could hear a soft hum coming from inside it. Its tiny square eyes seemed to blink. "Why does it have two heads?" one boy asked. "Two heads are better than one," Franny said. "When it's complete, those two heads will make it twice as smart as the next smartest robot. Twice as useful, twice as complicated." Franny held up the robot's blueprints for the kids to see. Miss Shelly said, "Franny, did you say that it wasn't complete yet?" "That's right, Miss Shelly. It's not complete. I'm going to need other mad scientists to help me, other mad scientists from the class, perhaps. Are there any volunteers?" Billy raised his hand. Franny was smug. The first of many volunteers, she thought. "Yes," she said. "You'd like to help?" "I would," Billy said. "After you finish it, I mean. Then I can teach it to bake pretty, pretty cookies." Copyright (c) 2004 by Jim Benton Chapter Eight: In The Gizzard Of The Lizard Igor just hated to see Franny depressed. He did his best to cheer her up. He juggled spiders. He dressed up like her mom. He even thought about letting the giant chameleon swallow him a little bit, since that always made Franny laugh. All Franny could talk about was her friends at school. "No volunteers, Igor. They all want to stick with their pointless little hobbies. They don't get it. They don't get it at all. "They don't understand the thrill of an idea popping into your head out of nowhere, and then diving right in and making your idea just happen. "If only they could experience that," Franny said. Just then the giant chameleon appeared, as if out of nowhere, grabbed Igor, and swallowed him. Even though she was depressed, Franny laughed a little and shook the chameleon until Igor fell out of its mouth. It's hard not to laugh when a reptile eats your best friend. "You have to be more careful, Igor," Franny said. Igor hid behind Franny. "You know the giant chameleon can camouflage himself. It's practically like he's invisible." Franny's eyes narrowed and a familiar grin stretched across her big, round face. "Invisible," said Franny, and she nodded slowly. "That's it. Invisible." Copyright (c) 2004 by Jim Benton Excerpted from The Invisible Fran by Jim Benton All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.