Books with author Frances O'Roark Dowell

Chemistry in the kitchen? Phineas L. MacGuire applies his science skills to culinary creations in this food-tastic tale from the bestselling author of Chicken Boy.Phineas L. MacGuire—scientist extraordinaire—has a new chore: cooking dinner every night. He may be a genius, but he knows nothing about following a recipe. A pinch? A dash? A smidge? This doesn’t seem very scientific. A pound of spaghetti? Salt on brownies? Lemon in biscuits? Why, these recipes look a little funky. But he’d better learn quickly if he and his friends are going to win the $10,000 Bake-Off prize. And to complicate matters, school bully Evan Forbes has taken a liking to Phineas’s brownies…too much of a liking. As in, if Phineas can’t make Evan enough brownies, he’ll get clobbered for sure. Fortunately for Phineas, he has the help of his friends, and even better, he soon discovers that cooking is kind of like chemistry. So the whole recipe thing might just work out—as long as he can keep his cool in the kitchen.

Phineas L. MacGuire (a.k.a. Mac) has three goals for fourth grade: 1. To be the best fourth-grade scientist ever. 2. To be the best fourth-grade scientist ever. 3. To be the best fourth-grade scientist ever. It's a tall order, but he's confident that he can achieve it, especially since his friend and rival scientist, Aretha, has asked him to help her earn a scout badge by creating the mold that produces penicillin. After all, who knows more about mold than Mac? And how many fourth graders can say that they've reproduced penicillin? None, as far as Mac knows. But then he has to manage Ben's campaign for class president and deal with his new babysitter, Sarah Fortemeyer, the Teenage Girl Space Alien from the Planet Pink who accidentally got rid of his dried worm collection and now he has to find it. How is he supposed to find time to focus on mold? The second book about Phineas L. MacGuire and his scientific experiments, Phineas L. MacGuire...Gets Slimed!, is as much fun as the first, and includes slimy new experiments that you can do at home!

Houston,we have a problem! Phineas L. MacGuire (a.k.a. Mac) is less than up-to-date on planetary happenings. (Marsquakes? Who knew?) If he's going to be the best scientist in the fourth grade, Mac has to set his sights pretty high. To outer space, actually. But Space Camp is expensive. Where is he going to find enough money for a week on Mars (or a pretty close simulation thereof)? Houston, we have another problem: a gigantic, slobbery dog named Lemon Drop. Mac can earn the money he needs by walking Mrs. McClosky's yellow Lab, but first he needs to survive the walks and the slobber! Good thing Mac is a scientific genius with friends like Ben and Aretha. Together the three of them discover that Lemon Drop is no ordinary dog -- that Lab is a real-life Lab-oratory.