THE LEGENDARY LIFE STORY OF THE LEVER:

How a Deceptively Simple Machine
Moves the World Forward

Written by Christine Van Zandt

Illustrated by Lesley Breen

(Union Square Kids; $19.99, Ages 4-8)

 

 

There’s a lot to learn about levers. And I’m not lying when I say this “deceptively simple machine” has made life easier over the millennia, which is why it’s great that Christine Van Zandt and Lesley Breen have written The Legendary Life Story of the Lever. This nonfiction picture book brings us to modern times by detailing the many ways levers have contributed to civilization’s achievements and advancements, and remains a crucial tool to this day.

 

 

 

Presented chronologically, going all the way back to the Ice Age when people hunted woolly mammoths with a spear thrower, the book engagingly combines informative text with cute, detailed art that includes children in every spread. I recommend that kids explore each scene because Breen has made a point of capturing many activities, in addition to the main one of seeking food. The illustration above shows Ancient Egypt and the role the lever played in trade. Here, readers will see how the lever was instrumental in the balance scale. By measuring items to be purchased against the weight of stones, sellers could determine a price, and buyers could be assured the “transaction was safe.” Scales may be electronic now, but remained a reliable tool for thousands of years.

 

 

 

 

 

Using a lever to lift heavy loads was an ingenious discovery and proved crucial in the construction of the Great Wall of China. Be sure to read the factoids as they are full of fascinating and helpful info. The artwork above shows how the pole relied on leverage “over a fulcrum (pivot point)” to lift an object. Spanning over 2,000 years, the building of the wall was intended as a defense system thousands of miles long and was actually not a single wall, “but a series of walls that were connected over time.” I cannot imagine how this feat could have been accomplished without help from the old, reliable lever, and my back hurts just thinking about it!

 

 

 

Jumping ahead many centuries to perhaps the invention most meaningful to me as an author is what printer and craftsman Johannes Gutenberg invented. The printing press greatly reduced the need for handwritten books, which were “rare and expensive.” It incorporated a lever that helped the machine move “back and forth” and used ink “to transfer words and images to paper.” There was movable type (even my father’s printing company used it before the advent of computers), which could be reused rather than having to carve a page of text from wood. The time saved was substantial. Approximately 250 pages could be produced in an hour, reducing costs for the public. The impact of this world-changing technology contributed to “enlightenment”, the creation of the Gutenberg Bible, and meant “the masses” could have access to the written word, provided they could read.

Some of my other favorite sections of the book credited the lever for train travel with its connecting rod allowing for movement, WWII airplanes’ throttle to control an engine’s speed and power (still in use), and the movie industry’s clapperboard to sync sound with pictures. Who knew a piece of wood could be so interesting, useful, and monumental in the history of mankind? This is the kind of book that can be read in one go or section by section. I can see parents or teachers using this book for activities that show levers in action, whether using a pair of scissors, a fishing rod, or even a seesaw! A bonus of buying this book is the step-by-step instructions for building the catapult model included. Click here to see a model of a lever in action.

 

Read a review of another one of Christine’s nonfiction picture books here.