Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea: How a Science Project Helps One Family and the Planet (CitizenKid)

Through Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea, I gained a window into life in a foreign country – learning about monsoon season, the religion (the book takes place during Ramadan), and the air pollution experienced by Bangladesh’s inhabitants. The book covers a range of topics, woven elegantly throughout the pages – family bonds, sustainability, entrepreneurship, the benefits of education, and passion for science. Mostly, I am in awe of Ms. Suneby’s focus on making the world a better place, giving inspiration to others to be creative and to try to find solutions to problems and to educate others on third world issues. The illustrations are beautiful and will draw elementary children in. I especially appreciated the additional information about Clean Cookstoves and the “Do-It-Yourself” instructions in case I want to try making my own solar cooker.

After reading Elizabeth Suneby’s previous book, Razias Ray of Hope, I preordered this one. My grandchildren (aged 4 and 6) loved this story about Iqbal. It evoked a conversation about children being raised around the world, their living conditions and their culture. Additionally we discussed the idea of “sustainability” and caring for the earth on a global scale. The illustrations are beautiful. I highly recommend this book for all young citizens of the world. It gives me hope.

Another inspiring and heartwarming story from one of America’s most creative childrens’ authors. And beautifully illustrated. This is a tale that celebrates international understanding, creativity, science education, and local entrepreneurship. A joy to read and to read aloud to your favorite young people.

Real story. Fits in with science standards.

This is exactly the kind of book we love in our homeschool, and it was a perfect fit for our week learning about Bangladesh in our Children Around the World year of study. It is a beautifully-illustrated picture book with just the right amount of words to hold the interest of my younger ones and to engage the imaginations of my older ones. Even my junior higher and high schooler enjoy stories like this one! Aside from having great cultural content, I also like that this book includes scientific thinking and problem solving, and most of all, I love that the problem solving is for the sake of others which helps to build empathy in my children. This book is a winner in every way, and we highly recommend it!We received a complimentary electronic copy of this book from NetGalley and plan to purchase our own physical copy soon.

'Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea: How a Science Project Helps One Family and the Planet' by Elizabeth Suneby with illustrations by Rebecca Green is a fictional story about a young boy who wants to help his family.Where Iqbal lives, it's the monsoon season. That means his mother has to cook indoors, and all the smoke makes her ill. He wants to buy his mother a propane stove to use during the rainy season, and the science project at school may be the answer. With the help of his little sister and an old umbrella, he builds a sustainable invention that could help other families. The book concludes with a chance to perform a similar experiment of your own.I liked this story of a young boy who wants to help his family. The illustrations are good, and the story encourages innovation and creativity.I received a review copy of this ebook from Kids Can Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

Iqbal lives in Bangladesh and is faced with coming up with a science project for school. He wants to create something that impacts his family and the wider community. With the help of his teacher and sister, Iqbal creates a smokeless solar oven so cooking is healthier for his family and there is less pollution in the city.The illustrations are absolutely beautiful and there are lots of different themes to address in this book (poverty, pollution, sustainability, Ramadan). I really like the inclusion of more information about smokeless cooking, a DIY clean stove project and glossary at the back of the book. This book is part of the Citizen Kid series and I look forward to checking our more in the series.Thank you Netgalley and Kids Can Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

My creative boys enjoyed hearing the story of how Iqbal developed a way to cook with solar power in his home in Pakistan. They enjoyed his creativity, and his concern for his mother and baby sister was lovely. One of my children did raise the question, though, how a gas cooker would be more sustainable than cooking with wood; this book makes you think that gas is the ultimate fuel.I received an ecopy of this book from NetGalley and chose to write a review.