Bounce!: A Scientific History of Rubber
by Sarah Albee; illus. by Eileen Ryan Ewen
Primary    Charlesbridge    48 pp.
10/24    978623543792    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781632893574    $9.99

Inviting readers into this spirited book, a bouncing red-rubber ball generates a path leading from the initial endpapers to the first words of text. Here readers discover properties of rubber: that it can bounce, stretch, roll, and be molded. Animated illustrations at times combine with text treatment to graphically reinforce features of rubber (e.g., under vignettes of children riding a rubber-tired tricycle, scooter, and bike: “It can r o o o o o o ll”). By posing three questions, Albee provides an outline of what readers can expect to learn about rubber: “Who discovered it? Where does it come from? How is it made?” As promised in the subtitle, she provides scientific explanations for each of the properties discussed in the introduction. Spot art supports clear, understandable explanations of scientific steps, as well as key historical moments of discovery. Throughout, Ewen’s bright watercolor illustrations both pace and inform this lively text, creating a book as bouncy as the original red ball. Extensive back matter includes a note about the nomenclature of Indigenous people of South America who first discovered rubber, a discussion of environmental problems and historical conflicts involving rubber today, a timeline, a bibliography, and documentation.

From the ">January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.