Rube Saves Santa

WHO IS RUBE GOLDBERG?

RUBE GOLDBERG IN POP CULTURE

Video Link: Rube Goldeberg Legacy Sizzle

HISTORY OF RUBE GOLDBERG

1883

Born

1887

Traced his first illustrations

1904

Began career as cartoonist

1948 Won Pulitzer Prize for political cartooning

1960 Mouse Trap, sells 60M games

1970 RG passes, but his legacy lives on

1996

RGM contest expands to high school

1930

Wrote Three Stooges film Soup to Nuts

1932

Rube Goldberg added to the Merriam Webster Dictionary as an Adjective

2012

International Online MIDDLE SCHOOL RGMC launched

1988

First collegiate RGM contest

2021

NASEF -Minecraft” partnership

2015

International MAD Science Grade School Competition launched

2023 Playground

1995

Commemorative RG postage stamp

Begins its world tour

2019

THE WORLD OF RUBE GOLDBERG

c Rube created over 50,000 cartoons in his lifetime inspiring builders and inventors everywhere.

SO, WHAT IS A RUBE GOLDBERG?

goldberg, rube | ’gold,berg

Adjective : N. America

A comically involved, complicated invention, laboriously contrived to perform a simple operation

-Webster’s New World Dictionary

BRAND TENETS OF RUBE GOLDBERG

RUBE GOLDBERG IS AS RELEVANT AS EVER…

THE WORLD OF RUBE GOLDBERG

Rube TV Show

Rube VR Game

Rube Documentary

Machine Contests

Education Partner

Digital Contests Digital

RUBE GOLDBERG’S

SUPER STEALTHY

SANTA

SELFIE MACHINE

RUBE GOLDBERG’S SUPER STEALTHY SANTA SELFIE MACHINE

This book is a follow up to the award-winning “Rube Goldberg’s Simple, Normal....” picture book series It is written in anapestic tetrameter, giving a nod to Moore's original poem, “'Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

READ HERE

RUBE GOLDBERG’S SUPER STEALTHY SANTA SELFIE MACHINE

The story follows our inventor protagonist on Christmas Eve as he cooks up an invention to take a photo of Santa. But...

IT ALL GOES TERRIBLY WRONG

Here’s a little preview…

RUBE GOLDBERG’S SUPER STEALTHY SANTA SELFIE MACHINE

Written by Jennifer George & Kate Cole Anderson

by Ed Steckley

‘Twas the night before Christmas and Rube was awake.

He left cookies for Santa, salami and cake.

Rube wanted to meet him and not go to bed when a thought, like a lightbulb, popped into his head.

When the house was all quiet, Rube crept down the hall.

He'd prove Santa was real once and for all. He grabbed his rope, toolbox, glue gun, and rake

And a Polaroid camera -- an invention he’d make!

Illustrations

RUBE GOLDBERG’S SUPER STEALTHY SANTA SELFIE MACHINE

With a CLUCK! and a splat, and a bang, and a jerk Rube knew his invention had started to work. The chimney spit out a raccoon and some snow.

Then an echoing voice bellowed, “HO, HO, HO, HO!”

Then there was an “Oops!" and an "Oh, no, no, no!

And a droopy red Santa cap dangled down low. Gobsmacked with wonder and stunned by his luck, Rube knew Santa was there, but that now he was stuck!

“Santa? Nice to meet you,” Rube said to the cap. “Hullo, Rube,” he answered, “help out an old chap.

I fell in head first. Now I’m stuck upside down and I have to leave presents all over this town!”

RUBE GOLDBERG’S SUPER STEALTHY SANTA SELFIE MACHINE

Getting Santa and reindeer back onto their path would take science and tech, engineering and math. Rube tinkered and thinkered and set every gear, of the best darn invention he’d make the whole year.

RUBE GOLDBERG’S SUPER STEALTHY SANTA SELFIE MACHINE

Comparable Titles

Santa Bruce

Ryan T. Higgins

Bruce is a lot of things. He is a bear. He is a grump. He is a pretty decent cook. And he is a mother. One thing Bruce is not? Santa Claus. But that doesn’t stopthewholeforestfromlining up to give him their Christmas wishes when he becomes the victimofmistakeidentityagain.

A Bad Kitty Christmas

Nick Bruel

AgreedyBadKittydidn'tgetallthe presentsshewantedforChristmas, but after she goes on a Christmas caper across town and through multiple alphabets, she makes a new friend, finds an old friend, and learns the true meaning of Christmas.Ornot.

Doyouhavewhatittakestocatch jolly old St. Nicholas himself? Santa Claus is getting ready to deliver presents to children aroundtheworld,butthewilyHow to Catch Kids have set traps galore! With the help of his trusty Reindeer and Elf, Santa will have to use all his festive magic to avoidbeingcaught.

How to Catch Santa

Alice Walstead

MEET THE TEAM

JENNIFER GEORGE is quite literally the DNA of the Rube Goldberg Institute (RGI) and oversees all aspects of her grandfather’s estate. She has led this effort since 2007 and has conceived and developed a new generation of cultural events and educational projects, often linking the fields of art, science, technology, and entertainment in visionary ways. Under her watch, the Institute manages annual competitions, traveling exhibitions, and produces books, product licensing, merchandising, and entertainment properties that enhance the brand and promote its educational mission. She is also a writer and the driving force behind the Rube Goldberg publishing program.

ED STECKLEY a native of Racine, WI has been a humorous illustrator for 30+ years, beginning in live caricature, comic books and magazine illustration, to advertising and children’s books. He’s also the illustrator of two different STEM/STEAM series as well as an activity book, all based in the world of Rube Goldberg and his crazy contraptions. In addition to children’s books, Ed’s work has appeared in numerous publications, most notably Mad magazine. He’s also an advertising illustrator, working for countless ad agencies world wide. He is a member of the National Cartoonists Society and the Society of Illustrators.

KATE COLE ANDERSON is a teacher’s aide working with special needs students at a K-8 charter school currently involved in 16 different science projects. She loves showing students that no chimney is too small if you think big. She’s wife to a rocket-designing engineer and mom to five budding scientists and two non-sciency beagles. A freelance writer and journalist, Kate contributes to the Herald Journal. Her work has been published in four Chicken Soup for the Soul volumes. One of her stories will run in the June, 2024 edition of The Friend magazine, with 250,000 copies distributed worldwide.

RUBE GOLDBERG BOOKS

By Jennifer George & Ed Steckley

RUBE & STEM

Embedded into 3rd-5th grade STEM curriculum

Studied by millions nationwide each school year

Thousands compete annually in global contests

800+ million searches for #rubegoldberg on Tik Tok

An adjective, a verb, and a community

COMING OCTOBER 2024

RUBE IN THE CLASSROOM

Lesson Plans & Activities

Lesson Plans & Activities

RUBE GOLDBERG’S SUPER STEALTHY SANTA SELFIE MACHINE

Merchandise Opportunities

Advent calendar

Animated holiday special

Seasonal Merchandise

Co-branded holiday toys

Lego

Hot Wheels

Knex

Mousetrap

Rubik’s Cube

The Rube Goldberg Institute is a not-forprofit organization that conceives and develops next generation cultural events and educational projects, often linking the fields of art, science, technology, and entertainment in visionary ways. The Institute manages annual competitions, traveling exhibitions, and produces books, product licensing, and entertainment properties that enhance the brand and its mission, promoting equity and access in STEM & art education.

Just to recap Rube...