Rotten Pumpkin?

Do you still have a jack-o'-lantern on your porch? (We do, because this year's cold snap meant it froze instead of mouldering right away.) If so, you may want to check out the book "Rotten Pumpkin." This picture book shows us what happens to the pumpkin after Halloween, with mice, slugs, medicinal mold, and other forces of nature. A kid who likes candy experiments might just be the kind of kid who will look at this book and say "Cool!" instead of "Gross!"

Candy Experiments 2 book launch!

I'll be having a signing for Candy Experiments 2 at Barnes and Noble in Bellevue at 2:00 pm on Sat, Dec 6. Come check out my diving candy, warty licorice, and other eye-popping new experiments. Would love to see you there!

Halloween Hiss

It's not Halloween ghosties or goblins doing the hissing--it's the Halloween haul! This Hershey's mini chocolate bar hisses in the microwave.

Laffy Taffy experiments or Halloween breakfast?

Just scrambled eggs with a little red food coloring, to make a nice orange concoction that shines like taffy.

Solar Jack o' Lantern Power!

How did you celebrate last week's partial solar eclipse? We flipped a pair of binoculars to project the eclipse onto paper, and turned the glowing crescents into jack-o-lantern eyes!

Smaller than an M&M

It's not an M&M logo, and it's not an insect. This display from the Pacific Science Center's current exhibit of Ripley's Believe it or Not shows a life-sized model of a Amau Child Frog. As you can see, it's smaller than an M&M!

Candy Experiments 2

I just got my advance copy of Candy Experiments 2, and it's beautiful!



My oldest daughter is disappointed that I didn't give her credit for inventing one of the best experiments, how to use food coloring and a secret ingredient to turn a red and white gummy worm completely blue. So for the record--that one was her idea!