The creators of the Caldecott Medalist So You Want to Be President? mirror that successful format in this enthusiastic, fact-filled picture-book tribute to predominately American and European inventors. Kids may be inspired to make history themselves when they learn that Benjamin Franklin was concocting new inventions by age 12. Solid advice such as "If you want to be an inventor, find a need and fill it" or "If you want to be an inventor, be a dreamer" precedes sections on people who did just that. Famous innovations such as Eli Whitney's cotton gin share equal billing with ideas that never really took off, like Andrew Jackson Jr.'s adjustable eyeglasses for chickens or Franz Vester's coffin with escape hatch (in case the person inside was still alive.) The brief anecdotes about each inventor and invention don't offer much historical context, but readers will devour fascinating facts on the origins of Velcro (cockleburs on a Swiss engineer's pants) and the story of where the expression "the real McCoy" came from (the train lubricators of Elijah McCoy). Two female inventors--one who was fed up with dishpan hands and invented the first dishwasher, and actress Hedy Lamarr, who helped invent a system for guiding torpedoes by radio signals in World War II--accompany the otherwise male-heavy cast of characters. One-sentence biographical notes in the back list the inventors in alphabetical order and a bibliography concludes the book. David Small's lively, color-washed illustrations steal the show, zeroing in on comical moments in history and creative gleams of discovery to great effect. (Ages 7 and older) --Karin Snelson


From Publishers Weekly
With a lighthearted style similar to the collaborators' Caldecott Medal-winning So You Want to Be President?, this volume furnishes brief sketches of inventors and inventions both famous and little-known. As she did in the earlier volume, St. George invites readers into her exclamation point-studded narrative and introduces many of the clever contraptions with snippets of advice: "If you want to be an inventor, be a dreamer" and "Don't worry if people laugh at you." The latter remark leads into mention of "Fulton's Folly," Robert Fulton's widely mocked steamboat: "But the laughter lost steam in 1807 when Robert's Clermont chugged up the Hudson River from New York to Albany with paddle wheels churning and flags waving." Some readers may miss the kinds of details that tantalizingly cluttered the pages in the previous volume (here, Alexander Graham Bell's invention gets one paragraph: "When he grew up, he dreamed of people talking across distances maybe by electric signals. Electric signals it was!", leaving Small with less fodder for his portraits). Still, she includes intriguing tidbits, such as the fact that glamorous actress Hedy Lamarr, who fled Austria before WWII, worked with a friend to invent a system for guiding torpedoes by radio signals ("Her goal? Beat Hitler!"). Humorous touches infuse Small's illustrations (for Franz Vester's invention of a coffin with an escape hatch, the artist shows a hand reaching out of the grave as guests depart the funeral); readers will particularly cotton to his caricatures of such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. All ages.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8-St. George and Small take a skewed, funny, and informative look at the history of inventions and their inventors and what it takes to become one. You don't need white hair and wrinkles, … la the classic image of Ben Franklin. At 12, while still a rosy boy, he invented swim paddles for his hands and kick paddles for his feet. Being stubborn as a bulldog can help: Charles Goodyear spent 10 years messing about with raw rubber, bankrupting himself and going to debtor's prison, before he discovered the secret-sulfur-to making tires, tennis balls, etc. Elijah McCoy (the "real McCoy") invented an oil can that lubricated engines while still running and became not only an innovator but also an idiom. In brief sketches of nearly four dozen dreamers, from Henry Ford to Hedy Lamarr (who helped invent a system that became the basis for satellite communication), the message is simple: "There will always be barriers to be broken-. It takes passion and heart, but those barriers could be broken by you!" Small's lively, fluid caricatures make for a winning collaboration from the duo who brought us So You Want to Be President? (Philomel, 2000).Dona Ratterree, New York City Public SchoolsCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Gr. 3-5. Lively energy infuses the work of this award-winning team. Indeed, there is at least one exclamation point on every page as they introduce all manner of interesting inventions. St. George strings her narrative together by noting characteristics of inventors: be a dreamer like Alexander Graham Bell; be stubborn like Charles Goodyear; find a need and fill it, like Cyrus McCormick. She also illustrates unintended consequences, such as the way the cotton gin promoted slavery. However, by including the line, "Inventors aren't all men!" she perpetrates an unintended consequence of her own. Of the 40-odd inventors noted, only three are women, including film star Hedy Lamarr, who helped invent wireless technology. That small number is misleading as those familiar with Ethlie Ann Vare's Mothers of Invention: Forgotten Women and their Unforgettable Ideas (1988) will know. Small's ink, watercolor, and pastel chalk illustrations have the same waggish charm as his Caldecott-winning So You Want to Be President? (2001). Gutenberg watches the pages fly off his printing press into the hands of Renaissance readers; Georges de Mestral sees visions of Velcro in the cockleburs stuck to his wool pants. A bibliography and biographical notes are appended. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
St. George and Small, the Caldecott Medal-winning team who created So You Want to Be President?, are back with another spirited and witty look at history-this time focusing on the inventors and inventions who have given us lightbulbs, automobiles, and all the other things that keep the world humming.

So You Want to Be an Inventor? features some of the world's best-known inventors-Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Eli Whitney-as well as lesser-known geniuses like Georges de Mestral (inventor of Velcro), Wilhelm Roentgen (inventor of X rays), and Hedy Lamarr (inventor of a system that became the basis for satellite communication-who knew?). Whether you're a dreamer or a loner, a copycat or a daredevil, this book might just inspire readers to invent something that could change the world!

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
The creative duo who invented Caldecott Medal winner So You Want to Be President? team up again for a lighthearted and illuminating look at history's greatest (and sometimes not-so-greatest) inventors.

As with the earlier book, Judith St. George provides brief snippets of familiar and obscure history alongside David Small's hilarious, inspiring illustrations. If "you want to be an inventor," St. George explains in a whimsical spread that features Ben Franklin using his most famous creations, "you don't have to have white hair and wrinkles." The future statesman came up with the idea of "swim paddles for his hands and kick paddles for his feet" at the age of 12 (with much more to come later). It also helps to "be a dreamer" like Alexander Graham Bell (he relied on a "dreaming place" as a boy), and it's good to "keep your eyes open" like Clarence Birdseye, who invented frozen food after watching "Eskimos freeze fish on the ice." These are only the tip of St. George's innovators' iceberg, but the message is clear: "being an inventor means pushing the limits," even though "there will always be barriers to be broken."

Equipped with all the bells and whistles St. George and Small fans could desire, So You Want to Be an Inventor? is winning fuel that will get brain motors revved up. St. George presents information in an informative and fun-to-read style, while Small's watercolor-and-ink paintings add appropriately wacky or serious angles to the historical perspective. Educators in particular will appreciate the biographical notes and bibliography, and parents will cherish the motivation for their kids. Young visionaries, get cracking! Matt Warner

ANNOTATION

Presents some of the characteristics of inventors by describing the inventions of people such as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and Eli Whitney.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

St. George and Small, the Caldecott Medal-winning team who created So You Want to Be President?, are back with another spirited and witty look at history-this time focusing on the inventors and inventions who have given us lightbulbs, automobiles, and all the other things that keep the world humming.

So You Want to Be an Inventor? features some of the world's best-known inventors-Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Eli Whitney-as well as lesser-known geniuses like Georges de Mestral (inventor of Velcro), Wilhelm Roentgen (inventor of X rays), and Hedy Lamarr (inventor of a system that became the basis for satellite communication-who knew?). Whether you're a dreamer or a loner, a copycat or a daredevil, this book might just inspire readers to invent something that could change the world!

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

With a lighthearted style similar to the collaborators' Caldecott Medal-winning So You Want to Be President?, this volume furnishes brief sketches of inventors and inventions both famous and little-known. As she did in the earlier volume, St. George invites readers into her exclamation point-studded narrative and introduces many of the clever contraptions with snippets of advice: "If you want to be an inventor, be a dreamer" and "Don't worry if people laugh at you." The latter remark leads into mention of "Fulton's Folly," Robert Fulton's widely mocked steamboat: "But the laughter lost steam in 1807 when Robert's Clermont chugged up the Hudson River from New York to Albany with paddle wheels churning and flags waving." Some readers may miss the kinds of details that tantalizingly cluttered the pages in the previous volume (here, Alexander Graham Bell's invention gets one paragraph: "When he grew up, he dreamed of people talking across distances maybe by electric signals. Electric signals it was!", leaving Small with less fodder for his portraits). Still, she includes intriguing tidbits, such as the fact that glamorous actress Hedy Lamarr, who fled Austria before WWII, worked with a friend to invent a system for guiding torpedoes by radio signals ("Her goal? Beat Hitler!"). Humorous touches infuse Small's illustrations (for Franz Vester's invention of a coffin with an escape hatch, the artist shows a hand reaching out of the grave as guests depart the funeral); readers will particularly cotton to his caricatures of such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. All ages. (Sept.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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