How to Make Diamonds From Your Pencils

Author: Swapna Haddow

Interest age: from c 8 years

Published on 12 March 2026 by HarperCollins Publishers (Red Shed) in the United Kingdom as part of 'the Solved by Science' series.

Paperback | 64 pages
212 x 276 x 7 | 340g

Bonkers dilemmas that can be solved with science and a bunch of brilliant chemistry experiments.

Survive at sea with pirates! Carry a dinosaur egg across the jungle! Send secret messages! Make diamonds from pencils!

Explore a bunch of ridiculous (and not-so-ridiculous) dilemmas – with solutions from the astonishing world of chemistry.

Sounds unbelievable? Test the science for yourself, with easy-to-follow experiments throughout!

What are you waiting for? Let’s become millionaires!

Written by bestselling and award-winning author Swapna Haddow, with brilliantly funny colour illustrations from award-winning illustrator Jess Bradley.

BOOK 1 OUT NOW: How to Save Your Granny From a Runaway Train (physics)

COMING SOON: How to Stop a T. rex From Eating Your Socks (biology)

Experiments in How to Make Diamonds From Your Pencils:

• Secret Messages • Exploding rocket • Chromatography detective • Instant ice cream • Static electricity • Whole egg in a bottle • Salt crystals • pH indicator • Green pennies • Shiny pennies • Collapse a bottle • Chocolate crispy treats • Oobleck • ‘Eco Plastic' • Slime