Jim Benton’s hilarious Franny K. Stein series takes a humorous tack when it comes to getting early chapter book readers interested in science.
Lunch Walks Among Us (4.5/5 stars, ages 7 and up, currently priced at $5.69) – From Amazon:
Franny K. Stein is not your average girl — she’s a mad scientist. She prefers poison ivy to daisies, and when Franny jumps rope, she uses her pet snake.
The kids in Franny’s class think she’s weird, wacky, and just plain creepy.
Tired of being stared at, Franny decides to attempt her most dangerous experiment yet — she’s going to fit in.
But when a giant Monstrous Fiend attacks the class, everyone knows it’s up to a mad scientist to save the day. But has Franny lost her creepy, crawly ways?
The Fran With Four Brains (5/5 stars, ages 7 and up, currently priced at $4.99) – From Amazon:
Being a mad scientist in the modern world is very hard work.
With so much that needs to be done in such a short period of time, multitasking can get way out of hand. Franny needs some additional help.
But for Franny there is only one person in the world she trusts to help her with her experiments — herself.
So she acquires assistance the mad-scientist way, by building a few real, live, steel-plated Franbots.
The Fran That Time Forgot (4.5/5 stars, ages 7 and up, currently priced at $5.45) – From Amazon:
Franny K. Stein didn’t think the time would ever come when someone would realize what the K in her name stood for. And she REALLY didn’t think that same someone would say her middle name in front of the whole school!
But that’s what happened at the Science Fair award ceremony, and all the kids and teachers burst out laughing. So Franny does what any respectable mad scientist would do — she goes back in time to change her name.
However, things don’t always turn out as calculated, and Franny ends up having to face her teenage self in a warped, fourth-dimensional, kid-versus-teen, good-versus-evil, Franny-versus-Franny battle of the minds!
The Invisible Fran (5/5 stars, ages 7 and up, currently priced at $5.69) – From Amazon:
There’s nothing better than being a mad scientist — at least according to Franny.
So she’s making in her mission to help her classmates discover their own inner mad scientists. All Franny needs for her latest experiment is a few volunteers, a half-completed two-headed robot, and an invisibility potion.
Only this experiment just might prove to be Franny’s most difficult. What do you do when your classmates don’t know anything about mad science and there’s a doubly dumb robot running amok to prove it?
Click here to browse all of the Franny K. Stein books available in Kindle format.
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