What do you think?
Rate this book
Miss Pickerell #2
MISS PICKERELL AND THE GEIGER COUNTER
Flash! The unpredictable Miss Pickerell is back again - to the delight of the tens of thousands who first met this amazing lady in Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars.
This time she keeps both feet firmly on the grond. But with Miss Pickerell it isn't always necessary to go into outer space to find excitement. It's a search for uranium that intrigues her now and an encounter with a most unusual young sheriff. Miss Pickerell, of course, is solidly on the side of the law!
Miss Pickerell's now-famous cow is very much part of the story - as are her nephews, Homer and Harry. And her knowledge of geology (after all her rock collection won first prize at the state fair!) comes in very handy - especially when she hears this all-important clicks on the Geiger counter.
Boys and girls will love this new Pickerell adventure and Paul Galdone's warm, humorous pictures. And they are going to learn lots of interesting things about atomic science and the mysteries of the Geiger counter.
This time she keeps both feet firmly on the grond. But with Miss Pickerell it isn't always necessary to go into outer space to find excitement. It's a search for uranium that intrigues her now and an encounter with a most unusual young sheriff. Miss Pickerell, of course, is solidly on the side of the law!
Miss Pickerell's now-famous cow is very much part of the story - as are her nephews, Homer and Harry. And her knowledge of geology (after all her rock collection won first prize at the state fair!) comes in very handy - especially when she hears this all-important clicks on the Geiger counter.
Boys and girls will love this new Pickerell adventure and Paul Galdone's warm, humorous pictures. And they are going to learn lots of interesting things about atomic science and the mysteries of the Geiger counter.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1953
68 people want to read
About the author
Ellen MacGregor
25 books7 followersEllen MacGregor (1906 - 1954) was an American author, primarily of children's literature. After a varied career in numerous libraries and publishing several well-received children's books, as well as numerous magazine articles, she died in 1954 at the age of 47.
MacGregor's goal was to provide fantasy literature with correct (for the time) scientific facts that would appeal to children. The first appearance of Miss Pickerell, her famous and quirky major character was in a short story, Swept Her into Space, published in Liberty in 1950. She expanded it to book length, published in 1951 as Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars, a science fiction novel for children.
MacGregor's goal was to provide fantasy literature with correct (for the time) scientific facts that would appeal to children. The first appearance of Miss Pickerell, her famous and quirky major character was in a short story, Swept Her into Space, published in Liberty in 1950. She expanded it to book length, published in 1951 as Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars, a science fiction novel for children.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 5, 2020
ENGLISH: This is the second of the four Miss Pickerell stories written by Ellen MacGregor. Miss Pickerell, together with two of his nephews and her cow, starts a river trip to the state capital, and suddenly finds herself alone in land, in the middle of the trip, while her nephews continue traveling in the ship, and her cow has mysteriously disappeared. Then starts a lesson on science, less original than the first, but also very interesting, with a very good introduction to radioactivity, nuclear energy, and even radio-dating.
ESPAÑOL: Esta es la segunda de las cuatro historias de Miss Pickerell escritas por Ellen MacGregor. Miss Pickerell, junto con dos de sus sobrinos y su vaca, emprende un viaje fluvial a la capital del estado, y de repente se encuentra sola en tierra, en medio del viaje, mientras sus sobrinos continúan viajando en el barco y su vaca ha desaparecido misteriosamente. Entonces comienza una lección de divulgación científica, menos original que la primera, pero también muy interesante, con una buena introducción a la radiactividad, la energía nuclear e incluso a la radio-datación.
ESPAÑOL: Esta es la segunda de las cuatro historias de Miss Pickerell escritas por Ellen MacGregor. Miss Pickerell, junto con dos de sus sobrinos y su vaca, emprende un viaje fluvial a la capital del estado, y de repente se encuentra sola en tierra, en medio del viaje, mientras sus sobrinos continúan viajando en el barco y su vaca ha desaparecido misteriosamente. Entonces comienza una lección de divulgación científica, menos original que la primera, pero también muy interesante, con una buena introducción a la radiactividad, la energía nuclear e incluso a la radio-datación.
March 11, 2022
Another fun installment in the Miss Pickerell series! My seven-year-old is still eating these books up, and contrary to what I would have thought, the occasional pages of scientific explanation seem to be his favorite parts.
Written in 1953, the science in this book holds up okay (especially for the elementary school crowd), but after reading the whole thing aloud to my son, I did feel the need to add a "radiation is dangerous" disclaimer, which was nowhere to be found in the book.
As an adult, I found the whole historical radiation/uranium hunting craze to be really interesting.
Written in 1953, the science in this book holds up okay (especially for the elementary school crowd), but after reading the whole thing aloud to my son, I did feel the need to add a "radiation is dangerous" disclaimer, which was nowhere to be found in the book.
As an adult, I found the whole historical radiation/uranium hunting craze to be really interesting.
January 24, 2010
Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Counter by Ellen MacGregor is the follow up to Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars. This time Miss Pickerell stays on earth and ends up discovering uranium while trying to get to the state fair with her nephews.
When the book opens Miss Pickerell and her nephews are on a steamboat heading up river towards the state fair. The cow can't be left at home so they've decided to bring her with them. Unexpectedly though they are put to shore early of the fair because the cow is too much of a hazard to carry up stream.
I was really hoping the mysterious drop off point was a sign that the ship's crew were doing something nefarious. The Miss Pickerell books though aren't the Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys series. In the two books I've read the characters are all basically good even when they're working at cross purposes.
The ship though is a clue just not one pointing at some sort of master plot involving uranium and world domination. The uranium is a means for Miss Pickerell to show of her knowledge of geology.
Overall I didn't like Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Counter as much as I liked the first book. The educational aspects seemed more forced this time and there was the underlying Cold War era weirdness of tying atomic research with patriotism.
My favorite character ended up being the local sheriff who really wanted to be a teacher. He seemed like an atypical male character for this era of book. He's a perfectly competent sheriff but he's miserable at it and wants to go back to school.
When the book opens Miss Pickerell and her nephews are on a steamboat heading up river towards the state fair. The cow can't be left at home so they've decided to bring her with them. Unexpectedly though they are put to shore early of the fair because the cow is too much of a hazard to carry up stream.
I was really hoping the mysterious drop off point was a sign that the ship's crew were doing something nefarious. The Miss Pickerell books though aren't the Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys series. In the two books I've read the characters are all basically good even when they're working at cross purposes.
The ship though is a clue just not one pointing at some sort of master plot involving uranium and world domination. The uranium is a means for Miss Pickerell to show of her knowledge of geology.
Overall I didn't like Miss Pickerell and the Geiger Counter as much as I liked the first book. The educational aspects seemed more forced this time and there was the underlying Cold War era weirdness of tying atomic research with patriotism.
My favorite character ended up being the local sheriff who really wanted to be a teacher. He seemed like an atypical male character for this era of book. He's a perfectly competent sheriff but he's miserable at it and wants to go back to school.
May 11, 2012
I love miss Pickerell's curmudgeonly ways, her bare tolerance of children, her devotion to her cows, and her fascination with science. They were great favorites when I was a kid. Warning: the newer Miss Pickerell books, not written by MacGregor, don't get her at ALL. Avoid.
April 29, 2011
I love Miss Pickerell!
April 25, 2016
Great reading
I really enjoyed reading this lovely children's book. It reminded me of my days on the farm. Every child should read this.
I really enjoyed reading this lovely children's book. It reminded me of my days on the farm. Every child should read this.
May 26, 2020
While it does have some narrative to tie it together as a story, this book is clearly more focused on being educational. It includes the half life of uranium, carbon dating, formation of rocks, control groups in scientific studies, etc.
July 9, 2024
This book series is from the fifties.
But its a rather enjoyable book.
It is for kids and I was noticing all the
subtle teaching going in
(the main character is always knowledgeable)
and the plot moves quickly so children stay engaged.
kind of wish I could find the rest of these
But its a rather enjoyable book.
It is for kids and I was noticing all the
subtle teaching going in
(the main character is always knowledgeable)
and the plot moves quickly so children stay engaged.
kind of wish I could find the rest of these
August 20, 2022
"It's my opinion that you can't trust a person who doesn't like animals."
September 1, 2016
Miss Pickerell is taking her identical twin nephews and her cow to the city to visit the circus and the Atomic Energy Museum. They are traveling downstream in a steam boat and Miss Pickerell is rather put out because the cow was put in the hold with a bunch or annoying rocks. The rocks were ballast. But, when the owner of the boat found that there was a cow aboard, he put into shore and dumped Miss Pickerell and the cow off in a small village. There's an atomic energy research facility near by. Also, the town sherif is trying to prospect for uranium. Miss Pickerell gets involved with both, the sheriff and the research facility, and eventually figures out that there were stores of uranium back in the mountain near where she lives (the source of the steam boat's ballast).
So, we learn all about atomic energy, radioactive decay, how geiger counters work, cosmic ray background radiation, radio-carbon dating, and so forth. A fun way to (re)learn some science.
Given that the book came out in 1953, views favoring atomic energy were pretty highly boosted. Those old atoms were to power our future. We know these days that nuclear power is not so easy. The safety issues are much more difficult and expensive to deal with than we'd imagined back in the olden days (the real problem primarily is waste disposal, I believe, and no one wants to pay for that, neither the profiteers nor the taxpayers).
But, none-the-less, knowing about basic scientific issues is always a good thing. Even if some of the political and economic issues change, the basic science remains steadfast. We've become rather an anti-science society, which doesn't bode well for our futures. It fair boggles my mind that we had well over a dozen people running for President a few months ago, none of whom had even a vague clue about the nature of science. They all seemed to think scientific investigation is merely a matter of opinion. It seems that a good place for those ignoramuses to begin to understand the nature of scientific investigation would be some Miss Pickerell.
So, we learn all about atomic energy, radioactive decay, how geiger counters work, cosmic ray background radiation, radio-carbon dating, and so forth. A fun way to (re)learn some science.
Given that the book came out in 1953, views favoring atomic energy were pretty highly boosted. Those old atoms were to power our future. We know these days that nuclear power is not so easy. The safety issues are much more difficult and expensive to deal with than we'd imagined back in the olden days (the real problem primarily is waste disposal, I believe, and no one wants to pay for that, neither the profiteers nor the taxpayers).
But, none-the-less, knowing about basic scientific issues is always a good thing. Even if some of the political and economic issues change, the basic science remains steadfast. We've become rather an anti-science society, which doesn't bode well for our futures. It fair boggles my mind that we had well over a dozen people running for President a few months ago, none of whom had even a vague clue about the nature of science. They all seemed to think scientific investigation is merely a matter of opinion. It seems that a good place for those ignoramuses to begin to understand the nature of scientific investigation would be some Miss Pickerell.
May 4, 2011
Another in the line of these really cute and fun old juvie fiction series of the amusingly eccentric Miss Pickerell, along with her pet cow Nancy Agatha and her cat. This time out, Miss Pickerell saves the day (as usual), by discovering a source of uranium that manages to solve everyone's problems. As usual, Miss Pickerell is aided and abetted in her adventures by her large assortment of nieces and nephews (Miss Pickerell is a spinster, of course). Her nieces and nephews all seem to be geniuses and always prove to be a great help to her. Great reading fun for all ages.
January 26, 2016
This Miss Pickerell book is as cute as it can be. She and her nephews and her cow are once again involved in science and silliness. This set of books were such a joy to read. She is a rock collector so this search for Uranium is right up her alley.
December 30, 2016
Another fun adventure with Miss Pickerell as she heads off to Washington with her twin nephews (and cow) and on her way there meets a uranium prospector. Her knowledge of rocks comes to her aid as she tries figuring out how uranium could be found where the right kind of rocks simply don’t occur.
August 17, 2013
So dated! But my 7 year old enjoyed it anyway, although several times I had to stop and explain how the science in the book was inaccurate.
November 30, 2014
I liked it. The sheriff makes her the deputy and she has to go look for uranium and she finds some.
February 9, 2018
I have to say these very old books are pretty factual and great reads. Think Magic School Bus set in the 1950-60's!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews