Surrey, England-based A.J. Wood has been intrigued by science ever since she was a girl. Her career as a children’s book publisher and author at Templar furthered her interest by satisfying her innate curiosity and sense of wonder. The creator of the bestselling Ologies series, a collection of large format fictional fantasy encyclopedias, has now turned her attention to the mysterious side of science with The Wizard’s Guide to Magical Experiments: 40 Science Experiments to Try at Home. Detailed illustrations accompany step-by-step tricks, disguised as mini-chemistry and physics lessons that transform ordinary household items into extraordinary results. Wood spoke with PW about the intersection of science and sorcery and how she hopes to inspire magic makers of all ages.
Why did you choose to frame science experiments through a wizarding lens?
I’m afraid I can’t claim to be a real wizard, but there is so much that is magical to be found in the world, and opening young readers’ eyes to that fact was my main impetus for writing this book. I’ve written and edited many science books of one sort or another in my career, but I wanted to try a different approach with this one that had both play and the use of imagination at its core, as well as a good dose of real learning. And so, The Wizard’s Guide was born: a handbook full of experiments that can be performed as magic tricks for the delectation of your family and friends. I’m a great believer in hands-on learning for people of all ages, and you can’t get more hands on than dressing up as a wizard and making your own bit of magic. And if you learn some key scientific principles along the way, that’s all to the good!
In your introductory note, you mention having created the original handbook for your two “wizardlings.” Who are they, and how did you cultivate their interest in science?
The two wizardlings in the book are representative of the many kids I’ve had the pleasure of working and playing with over the years. My own wizardling, Harry, is now a proper grown-up, but many of my ideas are still influenced by my experiences as a mum and have been reflected in the books I’ve created over the last 30 years. I also had an enormous amount of fun practicing the experiments in the book with my godchildren and various nieces and nephews—the ghost rockets, particularly, never fail to be star performers!
It was important to me that all of the experiments could be performed with materials that readers were likely to already have at home—old jam jars, water, salt, or vinegar—and many are quite quick to do, ideal for filling the odd hour after school or in the holidays. And while some do need the assistance of a grown-up, they don’t necessarily have to have “magical” experience themselves. In fact, I often find the adults are just as enthralled by the tricks as the kids. Anything that gets anyone away from a screen and actively engaged in playful learning is a great thing—whether you’re six or 60!
How does The Wizard’s Guide build upon your Ologies series, and what makes it different and special?
The idea for the Ologies books came in response to what I perceived as a gap in the market for books that provided a bridge between picture and novelty books aimed at preschoolers and those aimed at emerging readers. To an extent, The Wizard’s Guide builds on elements of the Ologies, particularly the use of flaps and booklets to split up the information into bite-sized chunks for ease of assimilation. I think it’s generally accepted that physical interaction—unfolding a little flap to discover a key fact—can help information stay in your brain more successfully, as can actually doing an experiment and seeing for yourself what happens. With this latest book, you are in receipt of an actual wizard’s handbook, so the content is necessarily much more practical and hands-on than books I’ve made before. But I hope it still feels like a book to be treasured.
As a young scientist yourself, what was the most exciting discovery you ever made?
As a kid, I had a fantastic book given to me by my dad, which had an experiment to do for every day of the year. I did every one religiously, and discovering how to float a metal paper clip on water was a breakthrough moment for me. When Dad pointed out that the same scientific principles of surface tension were what allowed the pond skaters to scoot across the top of our garden pond, well… I’ve never forgotten it—and of course, I had to put it in the book. Thanks, Dad!
The Wizard’s Guide to Magical Experiments: 40 Science Experiments to Try at Home by A.J. Wood, illus. by Jo Rioux. Magic Cat, $24.99, Sept. 16 ISBN 978-1-4197-8675-4
