What This Book Is About
Rosie Revere goes to visit her great-great-aunt Rose, who lives among the Blue River Riveters, the women who built aeroplanes during the Second World War. One of them, June, breaks both wrists shortly before an art contest.
So Rosie and her friends, who name themselves the Questioneers in this book, set about inventing a way for June to paint anyway. The Paintapalooza does not work the first time, or the second, and that is the story. Andrea Beaty wrote it and David Roberts illustrated it, as in the picture books, and it is the first of the Questioneers chapter books.
Available at Popular bookstores, Kinokuniya, and the Singapore National Library.
Why We Recommend This Book
Rosie Revere is a STEM role model wrapped in an irresistible story. The book celebrates engineering, problem-solving, and the scientific method in a way that feels like pure fun rather than a lesson. For international school students who are immersed in inquiry-based learning, Rosie's approach to invention—ask questions, prototype, fail, iterate, try again—mirrors exactly what they do in their STEM and design thinking classes.
The book's deeper message is about growth mindset: the idea that ability is built through effort, not born from talent. The invention fails more than once before it works, and watching Rosie keep going at it, with her friends and her great-great-aunt alongside her, is the whole of the lesson. At 144 pages with a Lexile of 520L, the book is perfectly pitched for A1-A2 readers who are ready for their first real chapter book adventure.
Reading Level Guide
Building reading foundations? Start with picture books and simple labeled stories.
The sweet spot. Accessible for A1 readers; A2 readers will read fluently.
A quick, easy read. Great for building speed and confidence.
Other UWC Recommended Books for This Grade
Not sure if this book is right for your child? Take our free English assessment to find their CEFR level, then choose books that match.