The picture book, “Meet Einstein” by Mariela Kleiner, is not quite what the title led me to expect.  I anticipated a kid-friendly biography that introduced some basic facts about Albert Einstein.  Instead, what the book presents is a very, very brief explanation of what a scientist is.

Clearly the author intends for this book to be read to preschool children.  Unfortunately, most preschoolers would find this treatment too elementary to be interesting or fun. (I think of the many preschooler I have known who have committed large quantities of information to memory who would find this treatment infinitely boring.)  Also, by connecting these general science facts to Einstein, Kleiner unintentionally misleads children.  When I test read the book to a group of preschoolers, they assumed that Einstein invented the light bulb and discovered gravity.

The illustrations of the book by Viviana Garofoli are entertaining, but the book itself seems both too brief and too general for what it attempts.  I think Kleiner would have been better served to write a general book about scientists to introduce the topic.  This approach is just too confusing for the average preschool-aged child.