Posts Tagged kidlit

STEM Tuesday– Transportation– Writing Tips and Resources

By on November 18, 2025   /   STEM Tuesday, Transportation  

Planes, trains, and automobiles.

Bikes, scooters, and motorcycles.

Boats, snowmobiles, and skateboards.

Modes of transportation. Ways to get from one place to another.

Luis Alvaz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If we know where we’re going and have a semi-reliable means of transportation, then odds are we will arrive at the intended destination. If we don’t know the way, we can use some form of a map to guide our travels. 

(Note: I still laugh forty-some years later at how, through the magic of those high school career aptitude tests, it was revealed that the perfect profession for me was as a cartographer. Of course, I had to consult the dictionary to find out what a cartographer actually was. After some consideration and with no clue how to become a cartographer, that plan was quickly scrapped. In hindsight, I question that decision.) 

 

Yan Irvan Ardi Ristanto, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Reading is a mode of transportation. Reading takes the reader places. When I read one of my favorite authors, Rick Bass, his words bring me to the Yaak Valley of Montana or the Hill Country of Texas. When I read books from this month’s STEM Tuesday Transportation Book List, I’m transported underground with Big Bertha digging tunnels for roadways, discovering what makes various types of working boats work, and sitting alongside crash test dummies as they make our vehicles safer to operate. 

As writers, it’s our job to create the mode of transportation to take the reader where we want them to go, whether it’s for entertainment purposes, informational purposes, or both. But how do we do that?

We do it by having a plan. The writer of any stripe needs to have an idea of where the destination lies to create the way there. As a sign in my local elementary school reads, “Begin with the end in mind.” Know where you want to go and then plan the way to get there. 

Writers need a reliable tool to navigate their story, so they must develop a carographer skill set.

They need a map. They need an outline.

Yes, the DREADED outline.

Just like me in my school kid days, I hear your collective groan. I understand. The thought of the classic structured outline, with its headings and subpoints, often throws creators into full retreat. The utter stodginess of it all!

With apologies to my 5th-grade English teacher, Sister Verene, OSB, I do not employ the classic outline structure she drilled into her students. In fact, I spent many a frustrating day as a writer, knocking my head against the wall, thinking that was the only way to outline. 

 

Luis Alvaz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I finally reached out to others and paid attention to craft tips from writers, and discovered that a working outline is simply a form that helps get the ideas down. 

Writers, embrace the outline! Find an outlining methodology that works for your brain and make it yours. Scribbles on scrap paper. Notes on your phone or computer. Even the classic outline format of headings and subpoints. Whatever gets the job done and transports the ideas in your head to the desired destination. 

When ideas become concrete on paper, and not just inside your head, they become real. They have a life. They can grow, be revised, and reach their final destination by following the outline map created. Ideas become complete stories that take the reader places. Therein lies the magic.

And that’s transportation at its finest!

Hop on, writers and readers! We’re going places.

 

Motacilla, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Mike Hays has worked hard from a young age to be a well-rounded individual. A well-rounded, equal-opportunity sports enthusiast, that is. If they keep a score, he’ll either watch it, play it, or coach it. A molecular microbiologist by day, middle-grade author, sports coach, and general good citizen by night, he blogs about sports/life/training-related topics at www.coachhays.com and writer stuff at www.mikehaysbooks.com. Two of his science essays, The Science of Jurassic Park and Zombie Microbiology 101,  are included in the Putting the Science in Fiction collection from Writer’s Digest Books. He can be found roaming Bluesky under the guise of @mikehays64.bsky.social and @MikeHays64 on Instagram.

 

The O.O.L.F Files

This month on the Out Of Left Field (O.O.L.F.) Files, we take a deep dive into getting from one place to another with an exploration of transportation.

20 Scientific Benefits of Reading Books for Cognitive Development

“Books transport readers to different worlds, stimulating imagination and fostering creative thinking.”

Each page turned is a gateway to an uncharted territory of ideas and visuals. While reading, your brain creates vivid images based on descriptions, which ignites your imagination and sparks creativity. This process can help you develop innovative solutions to problems by encouraging you to think outside the box.

How to Write an Outline via WikiHow

Outlining via the George Mason University Writing Center

University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies K-12 Lesson Plans

As the son of a civil engineer who specialized in bridges and highways, I can appreciate classroom projects like The Great Dinkytown Bridge Challenge. It reminds me of playing with my dad and building structures out of things we had around the house. 

MetroDreamin’ Transportation System Design app

MetroDreamin’ allows you to design and visualize the transportation system that you wish your city had.

 

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End of the World Shenanigans and Adventures with Max Brallier

By on November 13, 2025   /   Author Interviews  

Today, we’re excited to host Max Brallier, author of a stupendous amount of books, including the wildly popular Last Kids on Earth middle grade series. The highly-anticipated tenth installment, The Last Kids on Earth and the Destructor’s Lair, is out now, and we had the chance to talk with Max about it as well as what’s up next for this prolific writer.

 

Cover of The Last Kids on Earth and the Destructor's Lair by Max Brallier and illustrated by Douglas Holgate

Thanks so much for joining us here at the Mixed-Up Files, Max. How exciting is it to be able to celebrate the release of the tenth book in the Last Kids on Earth series! As Quint says, that’s a lot of adventuring. This installment definitely doesn’t disappoint when it comes to shenanigans, superpowered boss fights, massive monsters, and an epic clash with Ŗeżżőcħ. It seems like the ultimate showdown is still yet to come, though. Can we expect even more adventuring with Jack and our other dauntless heroes?

Thanks for having me! Excited to chat. Super exciting to celebrate the release of the 10th book in the main series—although I have to admit it’s a confusing number, since there’s a 5.5 and a 7.5 and other ½ books that aren’t actually half books but kind of are. But it is, truly and really, the 10th anniversary for the series.

Friendship plays such a vital role in this series and in this book in particular. Though what a twist to have Jack and Quint fighting and not speaking for a big chunk of it! Quint is usually the man with the plan, and though he turns out to still be in the end in splendid fashion, Jack has to do a lot more on his own this time. How did you navigate having these two not communicating while still letting them explore the Monster Dimension and move closer to Ŗeżżőcħ?

It wasn’t easy! I’ve always resisted having the kids be locked in a fight for long periods of time; it never seemed like it would be fun to read or to write. But it made sense here. And I was able to do it in a way, I hope, that it won’t feel like a drag.

The Bewilderness was an exciting location to dive into (quite literally), and other places like BountyCon offered a lot of great visuals and details as well. Were there any places you would have liked to explore more in depth?

Lots more places! The Bewilderness sequence was initially a lot longer, and parts were very different. And the entire Hidden City itself was originally going to be more of a living, breathing creature-city.

 

It’s always struck me how fun and heartfelt these books are while there’s a lot of pretty serious stuff going on as well. In this story in particular, Jack is coming face to face with evil. How do you balance the lighthearted, funny tone with the more serious topics of loss and death that come with the apocalypse?

I find that to be the hardest thing about writing the series—and it has been, since book 1. I try to balance it by leaning into Jack’s 1st person POV and having him—usually—approach things in a way that’s lighthearted or wry.


The illustrations by Douglas Holgate are such a perfect match for the tone of the book, combining scale, energy, and cool monsters. At this point in the series, do you have a sense of which parts of the story would make for a good panel or aside in a dialogue bubble? Is that something you get to work on together?

Doug is incredible. More often than not, while writing the manuscript, I’ll call out which moments should be illustrated—stuff like cutaway gags or flashbacks or little asides. Or big action moments that I think we’ll really want to see. But then, when reading through the manuscript, Doug and the book’s designer, Jay, and editor, Dana, will often flag moments that they think would make for a good illustration.

Photo of Max Brallier
You’ve written several other series in addition to the Last Kids on Earth, like Eerie Elementary and Mister Shivers. With all of these great stories and characters, I’d love to ask a question you probably get all the time: Where do you get your ideas?

Sometimes an idea will just hit me when I’m sitting in my car or running errands, or lying on the couch. Other times it’s a real hunt, where I’m pacing around, trying to crack something, trying to find that idea that’s hopefully going to save the whole book at the last minute.


Can you tell us more about what you’re working on right now?

The next two Last Kids on Earth books, finishing up The Last Comics on Earth #4, and two new ideas—one middle grade, one very different.

 

Do you have any advice you’d give to writers who are interested in creating a series?

Start small! Beginning, middle, and end of one story first, while allowing for questions that the reader will hope to have answered, and places the readers will hope to visit.

 

And last but not least, if there’s an Order 72, are there 71 others?

I’m more worried about Orders 73 and beyond!

 

You can learn more about Max and his books at his website: https:www.maxbrallier.com

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STEM Tuesday– Transportation– Book List

By on November 4, 2025   /   STEM Tuesday, Transportation  
 

 

 

Explore transportation on land, sky, space, and sea with these great STEM reads.


 

 

Big Bertha Book Cover

 

Big Bertha by Amanda Abler and illustrated by Katy Wu

This is the true story of the enormous tunnel boring machine that was used to dig and build the longest and widest road tunnel in the continental United States. It explores how the machine worked and the real-world problem-solving involved in constructing a nearly two-mile long earthquake-safe highway underneath the city of Seattle.

 

 


Ultimate Trains Book CoverUltimate Trains (Machines of the Future) by Peter McMahon and illustrated by Andy Mora 

Think of the many train tracks and the aerodynamic, fast trains that carry goods and passengers on those tracks in today’s world. Discover the history of trains from their beginnings to the present, and even where they could be heading in the future. This book includes accessible experiments that can be conducted at home or school to discover how STEM is involved in train movements.

 


From Here to There Inventions That Change The Way the World Moves Book Cover

From Here to There: Inventions that Changed the Way the World Moves by Vivian Kirkfield and Gilbert Ford

This book celebrates the inventors who transformed how we travel by land, air, and water. It highlights groundbreaking innovations like the passenger steam locomotive, hot air balloon, and automobile, and the visionary creators behind them. The book chronicles the experiments, failures, and successes that changed the way the world moves.

 

 

 

Means of Transport that Almost Changed the World Cover Picture

Means of Transport That Almost Changed the World by Tom Velcovsky and Stepanka Sekanivova, illustrated by Martin Sodomka

Many people are familiar with the vehicles that we see on a daily basis. But what about all the transportation inventions that were never duplicated? Complete with illustrations, this book takes us from 1900 onwards to see what STEM creations helped us progress to the types of transportation we do use today, despite not reaching the market.  These ideas can be a launching pad to create our own invention, perhaps something that we will use for  travel in the future!

 

 


Everything TESLA From How They Work To How Fast They Go And All The Fun They Have In Between Book Cover

 

 

Everything Tesla: From How They Work to How Fast They Go and All the Fun In Between! by Aiden Miao and Eliana Miao

Discover how social media and engineering worked together to reach a world market for Tesla products. Told through two children’s perspectives, this book provides diagrams and bite-sized details with analogies that support the science concepts along the way. The book shares the history, present, and future of Tesla innovations.

 

 
Means of Transport That Changed the World Book Cover

Means of Transport That Changed The World by Tom Velcovsky, Stepanka Sekaninova, and illustrated by Martin Sodomka

This book shares the sensationalized history of cars, trains, and planes through text and detailed illustrations. The authors include information about the history of well-known and less-known vehicles. The focus is on the tales told about various transportation.

 

 

Aircraft the Definitive Visual Guide Book Cover

 

 

Aircraft: The Definitive Visual History by DK Definitive Transport Guides

A guide on the history and evolution of aviation, this book showcases over 800 aircraft from early flying machines to modern jets. The book covers military and commercial planes decade by decade and includes the stories of the engineers and manufacturers, such as Boeing and Airbus, who shaped the aviation industry.

 

Transported 50 Vehicles That Changed the World Book Cover

 

Transported: 50 Vehicles that Changed the World Matt Ralphs and Rui Ricardo

Explore fifty groundbreaking vehicles that have shaped history, from ancient chariots to solar-powered planes. The book showcases land, water, air and space transportation and includes details about how these inventions have changed the world and may shape the future.

 

Working Boats An Inside Look At Ten Amazing Watercraft Book Cover

 

Working Boats: An Inside Look at Ten Amazing Watercraft by Tom Crestodina

This book explores vessels like Coast Guard ships, research boats, and crabbing vessels, showing how they operate, the equipment they use, and what life is like for the crews on board. Using detailed cross sections and exploded views of ten working boats, revealing their inner mechanics and the jobs they’re built to do. It provides information on maritime instruments, safety gear, diesel engines, and more.


 

 

Save the Crash-Test Dummies by Jennifer Swanson

There’s lots to explore when it comes to the science of car safety and engineering. In this book, winner of the NSTA Best Stem Award, Jennifer Swanson, shares just the right amount of history about cars and how they work. Find out about the variety of crash-test dummies in the many experiments that have brought us to today’s remarkable level of car safety.


 


This month’s STEM Tuesday book list was prepared by:

 

Bev Schellenberg and daughter Tiana

Bev Schellenberg is an author (A Prince Among Dragons; A Princess Among Dragons), as well as a writer of creative nonfiction, poetry, and picture books. She’s an advocate of STEM who was a science fair national winner and high school robotics club sponsor, and passionate about young people discovering, following the passion inside them and flourishing. She’s taught grades kindergarten to grade 12 and is currently an academic advisor, careers teacher, and armchair futurist. Learn more about Bev at BevSchellenberg.com.

 

Carolyn Pfister and her goats

 

Carolyn Pfister is a STEM Content Developer, writer/illustrator, and coordinator of the California Early Math Project. She is interested in encouraging family and community STEM opportunities and maintaining children’s early love and success with math and science. Carolyn writes a monthly Substack on behalf of the California Early Math Project – https://carolynpfister.substack.com/. Learn more  about Carolyn at Carolynpfister.com




 

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