SuperQuesters The Case of the Great Energy Robbery
Lisa Moss & Thomas Bernard, Amy Wilcox (illustrator)
Amsterdam: Questfriendz, 2023
ISBN 978-90-832943-0-8
£7.99
www.questfriendz.com @QuestFriendz
Super Questers: the case of the great energy robbery is “an interactive adventure story” by Lisa Moss and Thomas Bernard, illustrated by Amy Wilcox. Here’s a synopsis of the plot from the QuestFriendz website:
When Leo’s mum challenges Leo, Lilli and Bea to figure out how to power a model airplane using a special biofuel that can be made from an ingredient in their own garden, the trio start investigating and return to Questland in search of a solution. Upon arrival, the trio discover that the evil Lord Grumble is once again up to his tricks, stealing energy throughout Questland from the sun, wind, water, animals and crops, and sending it back to his secret hideout on Black Rock Island. Can you help them to stop Lord Grumble and return the stolen energy?
This is a puzzle/sticker book that aims to introduce youngsters to renewable energy in an engaging fashion. The book promises that: “Children 5 to 8 years old [will] develop 14 different STEM skills including problem solving, coding, reasoning and branching as they complete each interactive quest.” The book is “designed to support the National Curriculum for Key Stage 1 Computing, Maths and Science and help children develop their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) skills in innovative new ways.”
There are two stories here. In the “waking world” three youngsters can learn that animal dung might be used, after processing, to make biofuel that will power a model plane. They also learn that “nature is FULL of powerful things” that could be used to replace fossil fuels.
The second story nests inside the first. In the non-waking world of Questland, the intrepid threesome set out to solve a serious problem. Here, a bad guy with considerable form, Lord Grumble, is draining energy out of Questland and taking it through a pipe network to his hideout on Black Rock Island. The children’s task is to shut off the flow of energy through the pipes. This venture eventually leads them to Black Rock Island where they finally outwit the evil Grumble. They travel by plane and encounter sources of renewable energy along the way. At each of the 8 stages in the journey, they have a task to complete – a Quest – and so does the reader. Each task contributes to Grumble’s downfall. It’s never clear what powers the plane, but the logic of their task is clear and convincing, even if you have to swallow the idea that solar / wind / wave energy is actually being sucked through pipes. It’s much easier to imagine that manure / sunflower seeds / seaweed is in the pipes, but maybe this is an issue only an adult would stress about.
To help me think about this review, I asked a handy 5- and 8-year old to read the book and work through the Quests with me. Both had excellent reading skills. The 8-year old managed pretty well even though some of the concepts were new. The 5-year old could read it well (in the sense of decoding the words) but quite a lot was tricky to understand especially this demanding passage:
“Well, unlike fossil fuels such as petrol, oil and gas, biofuels are a type of renewable energy made from organic materials from plants and animals.”
I asked: “Do you know what a fossil fuel is?” The reply was: “No, but I know what a fossil is.” That did not help them though.
They both liked the Quests and did them pretty well, with the 5-year old disdaining the stickers. Some Quests are difficult (which is fine); others more straightforward. The first two are exercises in logic which made me think carefully. The first is a particular challenge because of the language. The third one (inter-rotating cogs) I managed to get wrong. I also got Quest 8 – a flow chart – wrong according to the answers in the back of the book, but the youngsters didn’t.
It’s a bright, cheerful book which I’m sure that young and old will enjoy – and they might all learn something useful about renewable energy.
Also available are: SuperQuesters: The Case of the Missing Memory, and SuperQuesters: The Case of the Stolen Sun, with SuperQuesters: The Case of the Angry Sea coming in 2024
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Reviewed by Professor William Scott