The Time Machine Next Door: Inventors and Dinosaurs Synopsis
A page-turning, laugh-out-loud historical adventure by comedian and broadcaster Iszi Lawrence (as seen on Netflix and Sky History), perfect for fans of Horrible Histories.
When Sunil and his scientist neighbour Alex almost fall out over a game of Monopoly, Alex jumps in her time machine to settle the rules once and for all - by asking none other than Elizabeth Magie, the inventor of Monopoly itself. When Elizabeth is horrified to learn that her anti-capitalist game is now a bestselling pastime, Alex starts to wonder if other inventors are happy with their work. On their mission for answers, Sunil and Alex meet Leonardo Da Vinci, inventor of the life raft Maria Beasely and the father of mathematics, Archimedes. _______________ The Time Machine Next Door is an exciting new series of quirky historical chapter books for readers aged 7-9, to be enjoyed as a series or as standalone stories. The series brings lesser-known parts of history to life with hilarious plots, real-life characters, fascinating facts and fantastic illustrations.
Iszi Lawrence is a writer, comedian, podcaster and history presenter. She is a regular on TV history documentaries including shows for Sky History, Netflix, Yesterday and the Smithsonian Channel. She was co-host of BBC Radio 4’s flagship show, Making History with Tom Holland and presents Your Place or Mine with Shaun Keaveny (BBC R4 and Sounds). Her podcasts include The British Museum Membercast and popular science podcast Terrible Lizards with Dr Dave Hone. She is the author of four adventurous and funny middle grade children’s novels including Blackbeard's Treasure (which was selected as Blackwell's Children's Book of the Month) and a quirky series for 6-9 year olds, The Time Machine Next Door, all published by Bloomsbury. She is a regular visitor to schools and runs history and historical fiction workshops for Key Stage 2 and 3 students.
Iszi is a dark blue belt in Japanese style Jiu Jitsu so she also spends time in the week helping to teach both short people (7-11 year olds) and grown ups how to punch her in the face. She dabbles in illustration, plays the guitar, likes cooking, dinosaurs and enjoys keeping fit.