Save the Crash-Test Dummies

Jump in the driver’s seat for this entertaining, STEM-filled tour of the history of car production and the science and engineering that makes cars safe.

Cars take us to work. To school. To soccer practice. To the grocery store and home again. Can you imagine a world without them? It’s not so easy!

One of the reasons we can use cars so much in our everyday lives is because they are safe to drive. But that hasn’t always been the case. If it weren’t for the experiments conducted over decades that involved all kinds of crash test volunteers―dead, alive, animal, or automated―cars as we know them might not be around. And then how would you get to school?

Filled with historical photographs, graphics and humorous illustrations, this nonfiction book from science educator and award-winning author Jennifer Swanson will appeal to lovers of all things that go and readers who are interested in getting under the hood and seeing how things work.

Jennifer Swanson began her career at the age of five when she wrote and illustrated books for her kindergarten class. A self-professed science geek, Jennifer has always been captivated by the world around her and is curious to understand how it works. As a young child, she used to gather leaves and flowers and look at them under a microscope, wade through her backyard creek, and tromp through woods. She has carried that love of science her whole life. The author of more than forty nonfiction books for young readers, Jennifer Swanson holds a BS in chemistry from the United States Naval Academy and an MS Ed in K-8 science from Walden University. She lives in Florida.

TeMika Grooms is an illustrator and arts advocate inspired by great stories and the characters that live them. She is intrigued by sequential art, specifically in the form of children’s literature and graphic novels, and the power they hold to influence change in society. She lives in Georgia.