Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll!: The Inventive Rube Goldberg―A Life in Comics, Contraptions, and Six Simple Machines

Printable Activities:

6 Simple Machines Coloring Page:

Six Simple Machines coloring page

Draw Your Own Rube Goldberg Machine:

Draw your own Rube Goldberg machine activity

Extend the activity above into a GROUP Goldberg Machine Drawing!

Printable Activity Poster:

Educator’s Guide (multi-page):

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection and Best STEM book!

A joyfully illustrated picture book biography of Rube Goldberg for STEM-loving children and the many people who enjoy doing simple tasks the hard way.

Award-winning author Catherine Thimmesh’s irresistibly engaging text and artist Shanda McCloskey’s energetic, cartoon-style artwork introduce readers to the life and creative legacy of Rube Goldberg, the world-famous inventor of crazy contraptions. A rollicking educational kids’ book that is part biography, part inspiration, and part physics how-to, Smash, Crash, Topple, Roll! posits the ultimate question … why do anything the simple way? (Especially if, for instance, there is a catapult option?)

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Reviews:

Awards:

Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Best Informational Books for Older Readers of 2025

2025 Best Science Books for Kids

2026 Best STEM Books list!

 2026 CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) Choices

Featured in the March 5, 2026, issue of Science Magazine

Shanda McCloskey, Children's Illustrator & Author