[I received a review copy from the publisher. No other compensation was received.]

If you’re the planet Saturn and you suddenly find out that your rings are gone — who are you going to call?  The super surgeon, Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo!  Just give her a buzz on her watch and she, along with all of her incredible friends, will literally come flying to help.

Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo is lot of fun and incredibly informative.  I took several astronomy classes in college and have taught physics and chemistry at the college level — and I was impressed with how much this picture book taught me.  I have read this book to both my boys (ages 5 and 2) a countless number of times over the past several months and we all really love this book.

As far as picture books, it breaks a lot of rules: the story is long, the vocabulary is very advanced, explanations are technical, there’s a complex plot, and a large cast of characters. Except, it all works beautifully.  So, forget the rules!  Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo’s Saturn Surprise is fun, engaging, exciting, and educational.

I adore Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo because first, it is a very happy book.  It is a joy to sit down with my sons and read it to them.

Secondly, because my eldest son gets to see and admire a young African-American girl being a surgeon and a rocket scientist.  I’m pretty sure you and millions upon millions of others have noticed that there aren’t a lot of young African-American girls featured in children’s books and we are really missing out (to put it mildly).  I’m so glad this book is here and I look forward to more like it.  If you’re looking for more recommendations of books with African-American characters, I read and recommend The Brown Bookshelf and We Need Diverse Books.

Then there’s the wild blend of factual science and science-fiction.  This keeps it exciting, educational, and endlessly entertaining.  If you’re worried that the facts and fiction might get confused, it doesn’t seem to be the case here.

The illustrations do a great job of explaining some of the more complex facts and giving another level of information.  My eldest especially enjoyed the diagram of the Moons of Saturn and the Saturn Dance illustrations.  The flying ambulance also elicited an “Oh Cool!” from him while the faces on the plants and other objects kept my two-year-old son pointing and engaged.

The book also includes a Glossary, Learning Words, Mommy Dynamo’s Discovery Questions, Mommy Dynamo’s Math Challenge, and Resource Guide with an Answer Key.  It is also Common Core Aligned.  I don’t know what else you could ask for.

Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo’s Saturn Surprise is the third in a series featuring this impressive nine-year-old super surgeon and her team.  We’re jumping into this series without reading the first two, but that hasn’t been a problem as far as how much we have enjoyed the book and how much we’ve learned.  It just means that I need to go out and get the other two books pronto.

A few months ago I was at St. Catherine’s University for a diversity in children’s literature conference.  It was a wonderful experience that I highly recommend.  As part of the conference we were asked to bring a children’s book by a diverse author.  I was so excited to introduce and watch the positive reception to the Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo series.

I and my boys love this book so much and hope you have a chance to check it out very, very soon.

Recommended Ages 6 – 12. (My 5 and 2-year-old boys love it) Mascot Books. February 2015. 32 pages. ISBN:978-1620865569. Fiction.

Where to Get it:

• [Affiliate Link]:  Amazon.com
• [Independent Bookstore]: Indiebound.org
• [Library]: Worldcat.org — ask your library to order it.

Author and Illustrator Websites:

• http://drdeedeedynamo.com/ — click to learn more about her.  She’s a very impressive person.  The website also includes additional activities.
• Interview on Youtube — here’s a great interview with her on CityLine talking about Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo.

More Reviews of this Book:

• A Mama’s Corner of the World
• Reading Authors
• The Crypto-Capers Review
• A Simple Life, Really?!

Where Obtained:  I received a review copy from the publisher. No other compensation was received.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

FTC Disclosures:  Some of the links in the post above are Amazon affiliate links and others are IndieBound affiliate links. If you click on the link and purchase something, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Which goes to fund my family’s picture book habit.  It’s a vicious cycle, but we manage.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”