The Time Traveler's Journal

The concept of time travel fascinates children. It can also be a great teaching tool. A new book by Ed Masessa harnesses that fascination in order to fuel learning. The Time Traveler's Journal (Scholastic) chronicles the time travel of narrator Lieserl Einstein. Lieserl is Albert Einstein's unknown daughter. She finds a piece of a meteor in an antique shop which gives her the ability to travel through time. She calls herself the missing Einstein because she erased all evidence of her existence in order to be free to time travel.

Readers get a sneak peak into Lieserl's journals, packed with photos, sketches, newspaper clippings, a real pocket watch that runs backwards and even math equations (which aren't explained, but look interesting.) The journal includes imaginative and well-told accounts of how the dinosaurs became extinct, what really caused the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and other events. The story also take a humorous stab at the future, such as depicting a Liberty coin with Arnold Schwarzenegger's face on it in the year 2051. But, it's not all fun and games. Lieserl's narrative also warns kids about what will happen as a result of global warming, and the need for more research into destroying Potentially Hazardous Asteroids. The book is a true reading experience which inspires kids to learn by combining fact with the joys of fiction.

The only problem with this approach is that it makes it difficult for the reader to determine what's really history and what's the fictional part of this story. The journal holds kids' attention with silliness and imagination, but often misses educational opportunities. Clearing up fact from fiction requires extra research on the readers' part. However, if your child is up for the task, that might in fact make for a terrific project.

Overall, The Time Traveler's Journal does a great job of spurring kids on to check out specific periods of history, literature, anthropology, sociology, and, of course, the scientific theories of Albert Einstein. It gets a A for inspiration, a B for execution and an A++ for featuring a female narrator with smarts! So, if you need to whet your kids' appetites for learning, this book may be just the ticket.

The Time Traveler's Journal by Ed Masessa (Scholastic Inc., 2007)

Ages 7 and up