Operation Cupcake

Ginger and Mac are mice who are very good at spotting tasty scraps and dragging them back to their snug home underground. This time their prize is a vanilla cupcake crowned with pink buttercream, but three things stand in the way: it weighs more than they can carry, it sits on a high counter within reach of the household cat and dog, and it is trapped beneath a heavy glass cover. These two enjoy a tough puzzle almost as much as a sweet snack, and Ginger believes the answer lies in simple machines.

The story unfolds in comic-style frames with speech bubbles. Between its scenes, fully illustrated sections explain how each machine works without halting the action. Readers meet six of them: the inclined plane, the lever, the pulley, the wheel and axle, the screw, and the wedge, along with the ways each one makes everyday tasks easier.

The book includes many hands-on activities that families and teachers can use at home or in class. It suits elementary lessons in physics and engineering and encourages young readers to notice simple machines in the world around them.