Erno Rubik and His Magic Cube

by Kerry Aradhya, Kara Kramer (Illustrator)

Overview

This first picture book biography of Erno Rubik, creator of the Rubik’s Cube, reveals the obsession, imagination, and engineering process behind the creation of a bestselling puzzle that will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024.

In 2023, the world record for solving the Rubik’s Cube was broken by Max Park, who finished in 3.13 seconds!

And then there’s you. Did you ever get so frustrated with a Rubik’s Cube that you wanted to pull it apart and put it back together in order? Were you to do so, you’d see how cleverly one of the world’s most popular toys is assembled. Working together, the 26 pieces combine to make 43 quintillion possible configurations—but only one solution.

A solitary child, Erno Rubik grew up in post-World War II Hungary obsessed with puzzles, art, nature, and the underlying patterns and structures. He became a professor of art, architecture, and design, who was still fascinated with how objects work together, sometimes becoming greater than their components. In a quest to help his students understand three-dimensional objects and how they move—not to mention a desire to entertain himself—he fashioned a cube whose pieces twisted and turned without breaking, and unexpectedly invented the Rubik's Cube, the most popular puzzle in history, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2024.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682636640
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	06/11/2024
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	448,420
Product dimensions:	10.29(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.32(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kerry Aradhya loves to puzzle over words and immerse herself in the creative process. She is the author of Erno Rubik and His Magic Cube and more than a dozen poems in award-winning children's magazines such as Babybug, Ladybug, and Highlights High Five. When not writing for children, Kerry works part-time as a science writer/editor and performs with a quirky modern dance ensemble. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family and their cute but naughty pooch named Sofie.

Kara Kramer is a mixed media artist, and illustrator who loves to PLORK with all mediums. She has taught creative art workshops for both children and adults. Ever since she was little, her happiest hours are spent moving her hands to make something new. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.

Editorial Reviews

04/15/2024

Growing up in Budapest, Erno˝ Rubik (b. 1944) was a studious kid with a passion for puzzles, patterns, and playing with geometric shapes. “Tangrams, pentominoes, and pentacubes helped him imagine all the possibilities,” writes debut author Aradhya in a brisk, reportorial style. As an adult teacher who’d studied art and architecture, he developed three-dimensional models to use as classroom aids and wondered about building “a big cube out of smaller cubes that moved around each other and stayed connected.” Following the puzzle-like creation of what would become the Rubik’s Cube, Kramer uses sketch-like mixed-media images to break down the process, vividly capturing the serendipity, setbacks, and grit that eventually get Rubik to “twenty-six little cubes and one round mechanical core.” Even readers who find the invention more maddening than “magic” should be captivated by this tale of imagination, tenacity, and a global phenomenon that’s still going strong. More information and an author’s note conclude. Ages 4–8. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Even readers who find the invention more maddening than "magic" should be captivated by this tale of imagination, tenacity, and a global phenomenon that's still going strong."—Publishers Weekly

"A whimsical tribute to the maker of the famous, frustrating, and absorbing puzzle."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2024-02-17
Ernő Rubik grows from a solitary but curious, puzzle-loving child into a determined adult.

Born in Budapest in 1944, Ernő liked to manipulate shapes, playing with “tangrams, pentominoes, and pentacubes”—all depicted in the art. He appreciated nature, too, and as he grew up, he studied architecture and art and became a teacher. While building models to help his students learn about three-dimensional shapes, he became intrigued by cubes: “Would it be possible to build a big cube out of smaller cubes that moved around each other and stayed connected?” He started with eight cubes, attaching them with paper clips and rubber bands. That didn’t work, but he persevered and subsequently devised the 26-cube model. But how to hold it together? Ernő was inspired when he observed a rushing river moving around smooth pebbles. Similarly, his small cubes could move around a fixed mechanical center—and finally, he added colors on each side. Ernő was just 29 when he invented the Rubik’s Cube in 1974; more than a billion people would eventually play with his toy. The straightforward narrative ends with backmatter noting that Rubik didn’t intend to create a puzzle, and when he realized what it was, it took him a month to solve it. The bright, naïve collage artwork is quirky and inventive: Rubik’s head is sometimes cubic, and perspective is at times skewed.

A whimsical tribute to the maker of the famous, frustrating, and absorbing puzzle. (author’s note, resources) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews