Fairy Tale Physics: Books 1-4 [Paperback]

All four Fairy Tale Physics stories collected in a single paperback — 440 pages, printed in full color, for readers ages 9–12 and up.

Read a Sample

Which editions these are. Newton's Laws, Fluid Mechanics and Light appear here in their first-edition versions, which are not the same as the revised editions sold separately — the Newton's Laws story in particular differs between editions. Gravity is the exception: the Gravity in this collection is identical to the one sold on its own, so if you already own that book, you already have the fourth story. Light: A Fairy Tale is no longer sold as a separate paperback, and this collection is the only place to get it in print — though the ebook and PDF are still sold on their own.

About Fluid Mechanics and The Hopeful Queen. The Fluid Mechanics story has since been rewritten and expanded into a full-length novel, The Hopeful Queen of the Clockwork Court — roughly five times the length, with a new setting, new characters, more physics and a different ending. It's a separate book rather than a new edition, so reading both isn't buying the same story twice, though you'll recognize a few of the puzzles.

The four stories included

• Newton's Laws: A Fairy Tale — Kip sets out to seek his fortune with little more than an apple and his wits, discovering Newton's three laws of motion along the way.
• Fluid Mechanics: A Fairy Tale — Queen Elise uses buoyancy, pressure and flow, with help from Archimedes and Bernoulli, to save her kingdom.
• Light: A Fairy Tale — Prince John learns to rule with a magical candle and the guidance of light mages from history, exploring color, reflection and refraction.
• Gravity: A Fairy Tale — Worry sets off to rescue her sister and uncover the secrets of the Scholar Knights, with a ghostly cat named Kepler, learning about gravity, tides and orbits.

What's inside

Every story has its science explanations and hands-on activities printed right in the book. The problem sets vary by story:

• Newton's Laws and Fluid Mechanics — conceptual questions and quantitative practice problems, both with full answer keys.
• Light — conceptual questions with an answer key.
• Gravity — a full-length novel with the science carried inside the chapters: activities, discussion questions, writing prompts and free online simulations, placed where the story needs them rather than collected at the end.

There is a fair amount of math in the first three, including some algebra. If you want the math, those are the ones that have it — and skipping the science sections entirely leaves four stories that stand on their own.

Digital downloads included with your order

Your purchase also comes with three PDFs:

• A PDF of the complete book — all four stories and everything in them
• "Abigail's Totally Purposeful, Definitely Not Accidental or Dangerous, Adventure" — a 7,000-word bonus story that goes with Book 4, Gravity, in which a birthday present for Galileo turns into working out exactly what makes a pendulum keep time
• A Free Body Diagrams worksheet, with a full illustrated answer key — 20 problems, built around the misconceptions kids actually run into

All three are ready the moment you check out — the download buttons are on the confirmation page. Your order confirmation email also has a View Order and Downloads button, which takes you back to your order page to download them any time.

Shipping: this is a print-on-demand paperback — please allow 2–3 weeks for printing and delivery. If you need your copy sooner, it's also available on Amazon with faster shipping.

About the author

Sarah Allen tutored math and physics for twenty years before becoming a full-time writer. She has a physics degree from the University of Washington (graduated with college and departmental honors) and a master's in Cognition and Learning from Columbia. Her goal is to write the sort of physics books she would have wanted as a kid.

Ages 9–12 and up · 440-page paperback, full color throughout · Four complete stories · Includes the complete-book PDF, a bonus story PDF and a worksheet PDF