Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie Kingsley
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
STEM-loving kids break down stereotypes in fun, funny book.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
Continuing the STEM-focused story of Ellie, Engineer: Book 1, at the start of ELLIE ENGINEER: THE NEXT LEVEL, young Ellie and her friends Toby and Kit try to build an elevator for their tree house. But an incident with pulleys and some special-order pickles in glass jars turns to disaster. As punishment, Ellie's parents have her help an elderly neighbor with chores and small tasks around the house. Toby and Kit join her, and the friends soon find ways to use their engineering skills to fix and build things around Mrs. Curran's house. But Ellie is frustrated when Mrs. Curran gives all the credit for the engineering work to Toby because he's the boy, even though the ideas were Ellie's and she was the only one who showed up wearing a tool belt. The friends decide to find a way to set Mrs. Curran straight about a female engineer's abilities, and maybe show her that anyone, at any age, can be an engineer.
Is It Any Good?
Kids break gender stereotypes in multiple ways in this fun, STEM-friendly book. Not only does Ellie show off her skills as an engineer, but Toby proudly plays with dolls. Helpfulness and kindness are the running themes in Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level, and it's fun to see the kids figure out how to build something useful and exciting with everyday supplies. Shovels, pans, old bike wheels, and other things they find turn into pulleys and elevators and more, all based on Ellie's designs trying to solve a particular problem. Ellie's parents are a good sounding board for her while she figures out how to improve her builds and improve situations she doesn't like -- and they share her sense of humor, which makes the book even more fun for young readers.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the assumptions about girls and boys that Mrs. Curran has in Ellie, Engineer: The Next Level. Why do they bother the kids so much? Has anyone assumed something about you based on a stereotype?
Did the kids' assumptions about Mrs. Curran change the way the kids treat her or think about her?
What other good STEM books have you read or STEM websites have you visited?
How would you improve some of the machines Ellie illustrates in this book?
Book Details
- Author :
- Genre : Science
- Topics : Friendship , STEM
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Bloomsbury Children's Books
- Publication date : November 6, 2018
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 192
- Available on : Hardback, Kindle
- Last updated : September 30, 2025
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