Synopses & Reviews
Mara Rockliff is the author of many books for children, including
Chik Chak Shabbat, Gingerbread for Liberty! and
Me and Momma and Big John, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book and a Golden Kite Award winner. About
Mesmerized, she says, “Ben Franklin and I go way back. The first book I ever read that made history fun was Robert Lawson’s classic
Ben and Me. I loved the part about Ben’s trip to France and still remember the towering hairdos of the ladies who flocked around Ben and called him
papa.” Mara Rockliff lives in eastern Pennsylvania with her family.
Iacopo Bruno is an illustrator and graphic designer living in Milan, Italy.
Synopsis
Mara Rockliff is the author of many books for children, including
The Busiest Street in Town and
Me and Momma and Big John, winner of a Golden Kite Award
. Mara Rockliff lives in eastern Pennsylvania with her family.
Iacopo Bruno is an illustrator and graphic designer living in Milan, Italy.
About the Author
Discover how Benjamin Franklins scientific method challenged a certain Dr. Mesmers mysterious powers in a whimsical look at a true moment in history.The day Ben Franklin first set foot in Paris, France, he found the city all abuzz. Everyone was talking about something new—remarkable, thrilling, and strange. Something called . . . Science!
But soon the straightforward American inventor Benjamin Franklin is upstaged by a compelling and enigmatic figure: Dr. Mesmer. In elaborately staged shows, Mesmer, wearing a fancy coat of purple silk and carrying an iron wand, convinces the people of Paris that he controls a magic force that can make water taste like a hundred different things, cure illness, and control thoughts! But Ben Franklin is not convinced. Will his practical approach of observing, hypothesizing, and testing get to the bottom of the mysterious Mesmers tricks? A rip-roaring, lavishly illustrated peek into a fascinating moment in history shows the development and practice of the scientific method—and reveals the amazing power of the human mind.