Anderson, Maxine: Amazing Leonardo da Vinci Inventions You Can Build Yourself.

Anderson, Maxine AMAZING LEONARDO da VINCI INVENTIONS YOU CAN BUILD YOURSELF. ISBN 0-9749-3442-9. White River Junction, VT: Nomad Press, 2006. 144 pp. $14.95. Maxine Anderson begins this book with a historical account of the Renaissance and a biography of Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo, interested in both art and science, was a prolific inventor who left notebooks filled with drawings, sketches, and written descriptions of his inventions. While most of his remarkable designs were never made in his lifetime, they were constructed in later years with the information found in these notebooks. Anderson includes sections of the original da Vinci notebooks in the text. She also gives relatively simple directions to make several of these inventions, using easily accessible materials. Children will enjoy making paint, plastic glass, walk-on-water shoes, Leonardo's safety bridge, and a hydrometer--among other unique inventions. This book is both fun and factual and offers children hands-on activities to enhance their appreciation of the incredible mind of Leonardo da Vinci. Ages 9-14.--MAH