Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!: The Inventive Rube Goldberg?A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines

A 2025 Science Friday Best Science Book for Kids

A joyfully illustrated picture book biography of Rube Goldberg for STEM-loving children and the many people who enjoy doing simple tasks the hard way.

Award-winning author Catherine Thimmesh’s irresistibly engaging text and artist Shanda McCloskey’s energetic, cartoon-style artwork introduce readers to the life and creative legacy of Rube Goldberg, the world-famous inventor of crazy contraptions. A rollicking educational kids' book that is part biography, part inspiration, and part physics how-to, Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! posits the ultimate question … why do anything the simple way? (Especially if, for instance, there is a catapult option?)

Because, of course, there are lots of things you can do the simple way:
Set an alarm,
flip a switch,
open a door,
toast some bread . . .
 
But what if, instead, you did things the Rube Goldberg way?
Endlessly entertaining,
needlessly complex,
and achieving a delicate balance of physics, humor, and excitement!

The book includes an overview of the six simple machines that power most of Goldberg’s inventions and puts the tools for making real-life Rube Goldberg machines right into readers’ hands. It’s the perfect thing to spark the imaginations of budding inventors, artists, and thinkers of all ages—because the most promising relationships with science start not with a textbook but with the willingness to break stuff and ask silly questions!SCIENCE MADE FUN: Sure to excite students, teachers, and parents looking for a playful, hands-on way to dive into the sciences and connect to STEM and STEAM efforts in schools, where Rube Goldberg machines are already in use, this book offers a fun way to approach the sometimes-daunting subject of physics.

INSPIRATIONAL AWESOMENESS: There are more and better opportunities for kids to embrace and explore a love of science and engineering today, and Rube Goldberg was an artist, too! This is the perfect book to encourage the scientist and artist in every kid.

POPULAR SUBJECT FOR KIDS: There are over 1 million views of various Rube Goldberg videos on YouTube featuring overly complicated ways to turn a page, pass the salt, water a plant, and more.Perfect for:

• Young makers
• Parents, grandparents, and caregivers encouraging budding engineers and artists
• Classroom book or gift for teachers
• Rube Goldberg fans of all ages

Catherine Thimmesh is an award-winning author, speaker, and creativity educator. Her creative children’s nonfiction titles have won numerous awards, including the prestigious Sibert Medal for Team Moon: How 400,000 People Landed Apollo 11 on the Moon and a Sibert Honor for Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild. Madam President was a New York Times Notable book, and her bestselling Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women won the IRA Children’s Book Award and was followed by Girls Solve Everything: Stories of Women Entrepreneurs Building a Better World. You can watch her discuss the importance of creativity in her TEDx Talk, “Creativity in the Classroom (in 5 minutes or less!),” on YouTube or her website, catherinethimmesh.com. Catherine lives near Minneapolis, in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. 

Shanda McCloskey is the award-winning author and illustrator of STEM-friendly picture books like Doll-E 1.0, a 2019 NSTA Best STEM Book Winner, and T-Bone the Drone, a Sunshine State Young Readers Award Jr. Nominee. She lives in Ball Ground, Georgia, and enjoys visiting schools. Learn more at shandamc.com.