The Bee is really into illustrated chapter books so I am scouring the bookshelves to find titles that will interest and inspire. Luckily, there are lots of titles to choose from and we were delightfully surprised by a new chapter book series by Caroline Fernandez. We were fortunate to receive a copy of Asha and Baz Meet Hedy Lamarr for review and we LOVED every minute of it.

Asha and Baz have been given a Coding Challenge and this one is tricky. For parents, think Frogger. When they grab their magic stick to look for help, they are transported back to Hollywood in 1941 to meet Hedy Lamarr whose frequency hopping invention is just what they need to help them complete the challenge.

In The Bee’s own words, “I didn’t think this was going to be a good book but I really, really liked it.” A great lesson for her in not judging a book by its cover. Not sure why she had decided she might not like this book because the cover is very engaging. Dharmali Patel has created beautiful cover art to draw in the readers. Her art throughout the story is a great pause to the text and invites the readers into a better understanding of the events taking place.

There is fantastic back matter in the book so that readers can learn and understand a little more about Hedy, George, her frequency hopping invention, and slime helpful tips for budding inventors.

Caroline Fernandez has created an engaging story in a similar style to The Magic Treehouse and Canadian Flyer series, however, in the Asha and Baz series, readers are transported to another time to learn more about inspiring female scientists. We loved learning about Hedy Lamarr, the Hollywood actress and famous inventor. I also loved how the story really drives home the idea that we don’t need to be defined by what other people think. Hedy was a beautiful actress but also a very clever inventor. Her mind was not given much credit so it’s nice for readers to have her as inspiration to choose whichever path(s) they want to take. The Bee has repeatedly said she is going to be a figure skater and work at the zoo when she grows up, so thank you Caroline Fernandez for creating this series and this book in particular to validate being more than just one thing.