"Burns’ early reader chapter book, the third in a series, focuses on girls pursuing careers in STEM.

The story begins with Charli and her friends attending an assembly for Career Day. One of the visiting adults is an

engineer who works on mobile technology, including GPS location devices. The engineer discusses her work and gives

the students a demonstration. Charli gets very excited about the possibilities of the future of the tech. The story then leaps

forward in time: Charli and her friend Molly are now grown up and have started their own engineering firm, working on

GPS technology and helping marine biologists. Their other friend, Emma, is now a journalist who wants to know more

about their innovations and how she can help. Charli is creating a GPS tracker for dolphins, but first she needs a test run; she and Molly decide to try the tech out with their dogs. The testing reveals bugs that get fixed, and Charli succeeds in helping the aquarium staff release a dolphin back into the wild with a new tracker. (“When the dolphin’s dorsal fin breaks the surface of the water, the GPS receiver will use satellite signals to send its location to Dr. Grace’s computer.”) Her celebration brings her back to the auditorium, where she still sits at the assembly, having daydreamed her adult success. The author includes suggestions for finding free engineering activities and sounds a call to action and creativity. The diverse cast of girls effectively encourages participation in STEM—the female mentors in the book are all positive and successful in jobs they love. Schroeder’s expressive illustrations draw readers deeper into the story, and the text’s formatting will help early readers catch context clues. The story effectively shows how representation and dreaming big can lead to the drive and tenacity required to follow those dreams.

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A rousing story that shows girls getting excited about STEM.

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Our verdict: GET IT."--Kirkus Reviews

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"Editor's Pick

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Burns’s second installment in the Charli Explores STEM series, following Charli’s Turtle Triumph, is yet another thoughtful, relationship-driven day in the life of Charli. When an unexpected guest shows up at Charli’s classroom to discuss her involvement in the town’s new community park, Charli’s teacher, Mrs. Lopez, reveals that Ms. Martin is the landscape architect who designed the park. But Ms. Martin has a surprise for Charli and her classmates: in the middle of the park, she designated a space for a playground, and she tells the students, “YOU’RE going to help me choose the equipment and design the playground!”

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Young readers will be thrilled with that idea, and Burns immerses them in the trappings necessary to design and construct the coolest playground around. Ms. Martin explains to Charli and her class the tools they will use, including CAD—a Computer-Aided Design program—to create intriguing 3D models, and once Charli starts to understand the work Ms. Martin does, her imagination fires on all cylinders. She quickly envisions her own design for a community park, one built on a “DOG-tastic idea”: a dog park where any pooch can run free without a leash.

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In Charli’s efforts to develop her design, Burns allows her to experience failures and pitfalls, teaching kids that no process is perfect—but with hard work, and a little help from Charli’s plant-loving friend, Emma, she succeeds at creating an exciting dog park with walkways, a splash pad, and Emma’s handpicked, canine-safe foliage. Charli’s willingness to ask for help and rework her park as many times as it takes is inspiring, and she never gets discouraged in the process: instead, she realizes that revision is a necessary part of creative design. For early readers, Charli’s Pawsome Park sparks innovation and offers practical advice and tools for any children interested in landscape architecture—or simply wanting to make their community a more inclusive, beautiful place.

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Takeaway: Young girl designs a dog park in this inspiring early reader.

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Comparable Titles: Kimberly Derting and Shelli R. Johannes’s Libby Loves Science, Laurie Calkhoven’s Women Who Launched the Computer Age.

 

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A"--BookLife Reviews

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"The Charli Explores STEM series features a range of stories in which the enthusiastic and imaginative trio of friends, Charli, Emma, and Molly, learn about the day-to-day practices and challenges faced by real scientists—and then imagine themselves putting those lessons into practice.

 

It’s the day of the careers assembly at school, and that means another chance for Charli to learn all about what it means toreally be a scientist—and to daydream about her future as one! This time, she’s excited to hear from Ms. Robin, an engineer who designs GPS tracking devices. After listening to Ms. Robin describe how she designs devices that can help marine biologists track the animals they release into the wild, Charli has one of her most exciting daydreams yet—she’s the designer of a special device to help scientists monitor dolphins released into the wild! The design isn’t alls mooth sailing, but Charli perseveres and soon her device is out in the wild— and in the papers! It looks like engineering is definitely on Charli’s list of possible future careers…

 

From introducing key terminology (such as CAD and GPS) to illustrating scientific work in action in the real world, the Charli Explores STEM books help make science feel real, achievable, exciting, and fulfilling to readers whose previous exposure may only have been theoretical or abstract. The cartoon illustrations in this story emphasize expressions, showing readers just how much fun the girls are having, both in the school assembly and in their imagined future careers as designers, engineers, and writers. Best of all, the story celebrates problem-solving as a key part of science, showing the steps Charli uses to overcome design problems as they occur in real time—and how rewarding it is when she finds the solutions!

 

Inspiring and informative, Charli’s Dorsal Device is a fantastic new addition to the series."—The Children's Book Review

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"When children are asked what they want to be when they grow up, teacher, firefighter, astronaut, and influencer often top the list. Bristol’s kids are no different, which is why Career Day has Charli, Molly, and Emma buzzing with excitement. For these young girls, the possibilities for their future are as limitless as their imaginations. Molly and Emma are interested in apps and games, but Charli wants to learn about the engineers and the devices that power their favorite tech. As the assembly gets underway, the students enjoy all the professional presenters, but none more than Ms. Robin, an engineer who makes mobile devices. She explains her custom-built app that tracks items with GPS. The kids are impressed by the demonstration, especially when Ms. Robin reveals her upcoming work with the Bristol Aquarium. The story takes a clever turn when it transitions from Charli’s real-world classroom into a vivid daydream, where she imagines herself all grown up and running her own engineering firm. That daydream unfolds into a full project that includes brainstorming, designing, troubleshooting failures, and finally pulling off a successful field test. This progression not only highlights a realistic STEM career but also gives kids a genuine taste of what it means to work through a problem from start to finish.

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A book that stirs imagination and encourages creativity, Charli’s Dorsal Device grows the characters and Bristol community that fans of the Engineering Adventures series have come to adore. Vicki Scott Burns has written an empowering book that will make kids want to start creating something the moment they put it down. The story features advanced technology concepts, like GPS systems, satellite signals, and computer programming, and keeps these ideas interesting and understandable for young readers. Callbacks to earlier characters in the series will make children feel like they are part of the story, while building on the STEM topics they already learned about. With shared age-appropriate interests and dialogue that feels natural, the friendship between the three girls is easy to root for, and the narrative nicely balances teaching moments with enough entertaining aspects to keep young ones involved. Dozens of colorful illustrations depicting expressive characters accompany the text, helping audiences visualize each exciting scene. Highlighting Charli’s favorite motto, “Anything is possible,” young readers will feel like they can accomplish whatever they set their minds on. With a focus on curiosity, persistence, and creativity, Charli’s Dorsal Device is an uplifting book that will inspire children to dream often and dream big."—Indies Today

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"Charli’s Dorsal Device is about a girl named Charli who goes to Career Day and hears an engineer, Ms. Robin, talk about making mobile devices with GPS. Charli drifts into a big daydream where she is a grown engineer, teaming up with her friends Molly and Emma to design a tracking gadget called DUG that clips to a dolphin’s dorsal fin so Dr. Grace at the aquarium can follow the rescued dolphin after it is released back into the ocean. They brainstorm, design the case, write the code, test it on their dogs, fix mistakes, and finally help that dolphin swim free while its movements appear on a computer screen. Then Charli snaps back to the school assembly and realizes she might want to be an engineer for real.

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I really loved how the writing makes engineering feel like play instead of homework. The scenes where Charli hides her shoe in the auditorium or chases the moving dots around the park felt fun and goofy and still showed how the tech works. The author keeps the language super clear. Words like GPS, CAD, and programming pop up, but the book explains them in such a simple way that I never felt lost. It felt like a friend saying, “Look, it is just a map, some satellites, and a little gadget that listens to them.” That mix of everyday stuff and science made me kind of giddy. I caught myself thinking, “Wait, kids could actually do things like this.”

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The idea of helping a hurt animal heal and then using a tiny device to keep an eye on it after it swims will show readers that positive things can come from technology. The testing scenes at the dog park and the beach made me laugh, but they also showed that real projects mess up and need fixes. Water leaks in. Dots disappear. Dogs chase seagulls. The girls do not give up. They tweak the design, add waterproofing, try again, and celebrate when it finally works. It sends a powerful message that mistakes are normal and that girls belong in labs, offices, and workshops where big, world-changing ideas are born. The colorful art backs that up, with bright faces, messy splash pads, and that proud little moment when the seagull flies away, and everyone knows the device is ready.

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The artwork throughout the book is clear and cute, with bright colors that pop off the page. The kids, the animals, even the little background details all have this fun, cartoonish energy that pulled me in. It reminds me of The Magic School Bus, with that same mix of science stuff and playful visuals.

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I think this children’s book is a sweet and energizing pick for kids who like animals, gadgets, or just asking “How does that work?” It would be great for early elementary readers, classrooms doing STEM units, or any family that wants to nudge their kids, especially girls, toward science and engineering without it feeling like a lecture. If you want a story that mixes dolphins, friendship, problem-solving, and a big, hopeful line like “Anything is possible,” this one totally fits the bill.'--The Literary Titan​​​​​​