The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil (Tuttle Twin… (2024)

This was simple and yet fascinating. It lead to several "How It's Made" videos. The world just got a whole lot bigger for the girls.

2021-07-29 I listened to this just after listening to Tuttle Twins #1 - The Law (see my review of that too for reference) and liked it almost as much. I listened to it again a little over a month later, again right after listening to the #1 book in the series too.

This book is based on a popular essay by Leonard Read, the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education. The point of the essay and this story is to acquaint the reader with the concept of the marvelous coordination ability of the voluntary market and that no one individual (or government agent or plan) could possible accomplish what this coordination can and does.

It is a great lesson. Milton Friedman used it in his classic TV series and book, Free to Choose.

But the way it is done does not really appeal to me and stretches credulity with the statement "no one knows how to make a pencil" when it really means, "no one knows how to make all the parts of the pencil and all the machines that make those parts, and all the parts to make all those machines (etc. etc.) as the pencil is commonly made and sold now."

So, the lesson is valuable, very valuable, but the specific statement of it is a bit misleading.

The narrator is the same for the whole series and she is excellent - very profession and engaging. I believe kids (and their parents) should like the book very much.

These are kids' books designed to teach some economic concepts to children. Uses Friedman's pencil example. Pretty bland but effective I guess. It looks like it would be well-received and an easy lesson for a day.

Brilliantly simple. A great read to teach an important concept for people of all ages.

What a great way to introduce economics and division of labor! This book sparked thoughtful discussions and definitely opened our eyes to some concepts we hadn't really considered in depth until now.

Surprisingly simple explanation for children on what the economy is. Really recommend for homeschooling.

The Tuttle twins, Ethan and Emily, are going on a class field trip. Not any ordinary field trip, but to a factory that manufactures pencils, notebooks, and other school supplies. Carl, a worker at the factory, explains to the children using a variety of materials and resources how pencils are made. It turns out that pencil making is not as easy as one may think! However, the process - the free market in action - is key to understanding how our economy can function best by working together to innovate and produce.

Based on the essay "I, Pencil," author Connor Boyack informs children about how the free market functions in a fun, easy to understand fashion. A glossary, discussion points, activities and questions are listed in the back of the book. Written in large print and illustrations on every page, this book is great for early readers and children interested in learning about economy.

Better formatting needed

While the story was Meh it only was made worse by the format. Usually you can zoom in and out on things to get a better size to read the text or view the photos in the case of this book it wasn't possible. The format was to wide and the text to small which created a distortion to every page in the book.

1. Why is the economy important?
Because it is one of the biggest foundations of our society

2. Would it be a good or a bad idea to have a few people tell everybody else how to make or do something?
It would be a good idea to have a few people coordinating and managing the process of making something.

3. Pick and object nearby. What does it's family tree look like?
Nah.

4. How has your life been improved by the division of labor?
Well by the logic of this book, I would have a life if it weren't for it.

5. Is there anything that you could make entirely on your own?
Yes

An interesting and well explained story explaining how free market works. Great illustrations. I liked that this book took the complex topics of free market and economy and explained it in a way even young children can grasp.
Recommending for all ages.

I read this during morning time and it really opened our eyes to how much goes into making all of the things we use everyday.

So it used to be that a Barenaked Ladies concert was the whitest thing out there... then these monstrosities came out.... Made by an author who clearly didn't even read Smith, or Jefferson, or any of their apparent influences... it's social studies for wealthy white kids to help make a new generation of tax evaders... delightful...

Not to mention that their facebook page shares sh*t from Jordan Peterson, yep that piece of sh*t bigot. These books should not be read by anyone, let alone children. If you want your kid to turn into a libertarian proud boy, then I guess this fits, but if you want your kids to understand actual complex problems, read elsewhere.

The Tuttle Twins and their classmates learn about the economy and all the things and people who make it work as they take a field trip to a pencil factory. The story not only tells of the main ingredients to make a pencil – graphite, wood, lacquer – but goes into the whole “family tree” of the pencil: where did the wood come from? How did it get from the forest to the factory? Where did the parts come from to make the truck that got the wood to the factory, etc. Through the story readers learn that it takes carefully coordinated collaboration to grow a prosperous economy. A simple introduction to economics, this slim volume is a welcome addition to lower elementary classroom libraries.

Carl: "Not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make a pencil!"
*Immediately starts explaining how to make a pencil*

Discussion Questions:
1. Why is the economy important?
Well, the simple Sunday School ahh answer that the book wants you to say, is- "everybody somehow helps everybody when supporting the economy through a job"

2. Would it be a good or bad idea to have a few people tell everybody else how to make or do something? Why?
Dude. It's like asking me if a President of Earth would be a good idea. No it wouldn't be.

3. Pick an object nearby-what does its family tree look like?
Nah bro it's trying to make me write my own version of this book.

4. How has your life been improved by the division of labor?
Uh, I guess products are delivered to different countries faster by "the division of labor".

5. Is there anything that you could make entirely on your own?
It wants me to say no, but I think I just beat the system-
Aside from the obvious plot-hole of "God made my hands, so I can't do anything with my hands on my own", I can form a pile of dirt from the flat ground entirely on my own. Now one might say- "well you wouldn't even be there to form a dirt pile, if it weren't for the Europeans who sailed to America. Well if the Europeans didn't sail to America, I'd probably be living in and as a different nationality, which I'm sure would still have dirt nearby for me to form into the shape of a hill.
So yes. I can make a couple things entirely on my own.

A parent's review: Recommended

Reviewed in the United States on November 20, 2020

This is a children's version of the essay "I, Pencil," (by Leonard Reed and popularized by Milton Friedman.)

This is a simple little read, it occurs to me to ask: Why didn't somebody think of this before?

A lot of times when people want to inculcate someone with a political agenda, the first place that they go is to schools so that they can catch children when they are young.

The environmentalists have been doing this for a long time. (Think of how often you watch a cartoon where bad people are shown to be polluters, who are not polluting as a side effect of some productive economic activity. But, just doing it because they are "bad.")

And don't even get me started on the gender identity disorder movement. (Drag queen story hours all over the place.)

If you have a worldview that you would like to impart to your kids, better that you catch them young and take the responsibility for their education.

The Libertarian world view has some number of parts, and this is a substantial one. (Complexity beyond the ability of any "planner" to understand.)

Verdict: Strongly recommended

Like many people here, I suspect, I was just curious about a set of books about modern life that supposedly weren't soaked in political ideology. Let children be children, at least before high school.

After looking through a bunch of the Tuttle Twin books, and deciding they were a little too pushy for my taste, I eventually found this children's version of "I, Pencil" by Leonard Read. It simply explains the various steps in making a yellow number 2 pencil from components produced around the world. Simple. I really can't imagine anybody finding a problem with it, whatever their political views.

Just for anyone who is as easily entertained as I am, we coincidently have "Robert Fulton, Boy Craftsman" by Marguerite Henry. It tells the story of the childhood of the inventor of the first commercially successful steamboat. One of little Bob's early projects was making a pencil from a couple of pieces of wood and some black goo using tools he found in the local smithy. Whatever the Tuttle Twins were told, apparently there were once people who could make a pencil all by themselves. I rather liked the contrast.

The Miraculous Pencil is the second book in The Tuttle Twins series. This book looks at the economy and explains how a seemingly simple thing like a pencil actually takes many, many people to create and assemble all of the components.

In this story, Ethan, Emily, and their entire class take a field trip to a factory where school supplies are made. They learn how all of the people and components of a pencil come together. They discuss which parts of the world the items necessary to make the pencil we use today come from. We see illustrations of plants, mines, and molten metal, while Carl the factory guide explain it all to the class.

In this 56 page book, readers learn about the free market, price competition, and spontaneous labor in a kid friendly way. The illustrations are realistic and appealing. After reading, we pulled out a world map and found each of the countries mentioned in the book and made educated guesses about the location of some of the other resources.

The Miraculous Pencil is based on "I, Pencil" by Leonard Read.

"The Tuttle Twins and the Miraculous Pencil" is a cool book about Emily and Ethan, who go on an adventure to learn how pencils are made. The crazy thing is, no one knows how to make a pencil all by themselves! They meet a guy named Carl at a pencil factory who shows them the pencil family tree and teaches them some surprising lessons.

The main characters are Emily and Ethan, two curious kids, and Carl, the wise man from the pencil factory. Carl helps the kids understand how everyone works together to make something as simple as a pencil.

I really liked the part where Carl says, "No one on the face of this earth knows how to make one!" It made me laugh! Carl is my favorite character because he teaches kids important things in a funny way.

If you're 7 or older and you like quick and funny reads, you should totally check out this book!

A simplified version of Leonard Read's 'I, Pencil' essay, this quick tale shows a kind of family tree branching of how products are made, and the number of people in a spontaneous order working together without central planning governments stifling the process for personal gain.

The Tuttles and their class join Mrs. Miner on her magic school bus to visit a supply manufacturing company. Well, there's no magic school bus, I just got carried away. The story uses the manufacturing of a pencil, how it is resourced, and how it takes many to make it, to tell about the economy and the free market and all that goes into such a simple product.

As someone who is open-minded and enjoys children's books, I am reading some of these conservative(?)/libertarian(?) "propaganda" books aimed at children.

This was a fun book about how pencils are made and how the process ultimately involves the contributions of thousands/millions of people. It reminded me of the "Picture Picture" segments on Mister srogers' Neighborhood. There seemed to be a very vague anti-communism sentiment, but not enough for me (or any kids, probably) to understand what they were trying to get at. Or anti-one-world government? Something about how it's good that there isn't an overarching authority making things happen? I think the author succeeded at making an interesting book but failed at conveying whatever his underlying political message was.

I loved this one! I'm not sure how I missed out on Leonard Read's "I, Pencil" before, but it is fantastic. This book, based on that essay, not only introduces children to the concepts of economy and division of labor, but it shows how we are all tied to each other and how everything around us is miraculous. It helps us look at things with wonder and appreciate our contributions to the world. The video it refers you to on their website is very well done as well.

I ended up liking this book a lot more than the first one. The kids agreed that it really got them thinking, and looking at things differently. It will be fun to take various items around the house to do the same exercise that the students in the book went through to see what it took to bring them into existence. There are odd formatting and punctuation choices going on in these books of which I am not a fan. They make reading aloud harder than it needs to be.

This book is a simplified version of Leonard Read's essay, "I, pencil". There are illustratiins throughout which add to a deeper understanding. I love that it teaches economics along with the moral that we can't do things alone. It meantions that people can achieve things together who have different beliefs and don't speak the same language.
This is a great book to add to your kids bookshelf.

Based on Leonard Read's famous essay, "I, Pencil," the twins go with their class to a factory where pencils are made. They learn that no single individual on the planet knows how to make a pencil. This is a decent primer to a number of basic economic principles at a level children can begin to grasp.

This book is a great general explanation of how economies operate. In many ways it is better than the course in economics I took in college, and it lays out a far better explanation of how things are ultimately made and marketed. It is a very basic but true depiction of business, only without the backstabbing and lies you find in the adult world. ***sigh***

Such a great and quick read on economics and the free market for our younger youth. It will even have your children thinking about truly where does everything around them come from "truly" as we all know a pencil is not just a pencil.

An easy to understand explanation of how the free market works to create the world we live in written for elementary/middle grade age kids (but also interesting for adult kids too:). This is based of the famous “I Pencil” essay https://bit.ly/2JODV2c which I would highly recommend reading!

In this second TT book, the twins take a field trip to a pencil factory, where they learn allll the things, people, places and businesses around the world that go into making one simple thing. Great discussion on what an economy is and how we are globally connected. Very timely to read right NOW.

Simple and clear. It makes the same point as the Leonard Read original, but spells everything out. The illustrations are superfluous and this book would probably be improved by simply reading it aloud to children.

I bought the Tuttle Twins books for Christmas for my kids. This one is about how to make a pencil and whats goes into it materials/labor ect. I like that so many of the books make kids think about things we use everyday.