Neo Leo

Gr 2—5—In now-and-then comparisons similar to his previous work, Now and Ben: The Modern Inventions of Benjamin Franklin (2006), Gene Barretta illustrates the vision and brilliance of artist/inventor Leonardo da Vinci in Neo Leo (2009, both Holt). Barretta's delightful watercolor illustrations become backgrounds for an amazing catalog of inventions. Panning and focusing on a portion of a page creates movement and highlights details; occasional animation gives life and motion to the scenes. The video begins with a humorous introduction in which the author introduces some of Leonardo's fabulous inventions, and speculates on the reason for his odd method of recording his discoveries by writing backwards. Then, to the accompaniment of Bruce Zimmerman's Renanissance-style music and occasional sound effects, viewers are shown how the inventor's ideas foreshadowed inventions hundreds of years later. For example, on the "Neo" side, we have the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903, and the development of the hang glider in 1892 and the helicopter in 1907; on the "Leo" side, we see Leonardo's drawings of an ornithopter, a glider, and an aerial screw. Da Vinci even sketched designs for a single-span bridge, contact lenses, steam-powered engines, and robots. Kirby Ward's narration in spot-on. A fine introduction for units on inventors and inventions.—MaryAnn Karre, Horace Mann Elementary School, Binghamton, NY