MAGIC MUD AND OTHER GREAT EXPERIMENTS. Penrose, Gordon. Illustrated by Tina Holdcroft. Toronto. Greey de Pencier Books, 1987. 48pp, paper. $8.95. ISBN 0-920775-18-7. (OWL books). CIP Grades 3 to 7 Reviewed by Joanne Robertson Volume 16 Number 6 1988 November Gordon Penrose is also known as Dr. Zed of OWL magazine and OWL TV fame. Magic Mud and Other Great Experiments is his third science activity book. The premise of Magic Mud is that learning about science can be and should be fun. A hands-on discovery approach is advocated. He uses humour in the form of jokes, riddles and amusing illustrations in the presentation of these entertaining and informative experiments. A table of contents and an index are included. Twenty-one lavishly illustrated experiments are presented by a cartoon Dr. Zed, his cartoon mouse assistants and photographed real students. The concepts include crystal formation, the law of averages, optical illusions and the needs of growing plants. As well as state what the student should expect to happen, Dr. Zed and his assistants give the scientific explanation for the results. The materials needed to do the experiments are commonly available. The directions are easy to read and follow. The experiments in Magic Mud could be done at home or in the classroom. For the most part they require a minimum of adult supervision. Joanne Robertson, Dauphin, Man.