by Joyce Sidman
Illustrated by K. Bennett Chavez
Balloons? They've gone the way of horses:
cumbersome and rather rare,
but they were first to lift us up
into the bright, enchanted air . . .
Take a trip through time with the inventors of everything from the chocolate bar to the bra. These narrative poems look into the minds of some of the world's most fascinating people (Marie Curie, Leonardo da Vinci, Johann Gutenberg), just at the moment that their creativity is about to change the world.
Reader's Guide | Inventor Links
Awards and Honors
Bank Street Best Book of the Year
VOYA 2002 Nonfiction Honor List
How this book began . . .
This book started outside on a walk, as most of my books do. I noticed a maple seed spinning in the air--you know, the ones we sometimes call "helicopters"? I picked up the seed, noted its blade-like shape, and wondered if the inventor of the helicoptor got the idea from watching a maple seed. In fact, where DID all those inventive ideas come from? After some research, I discovered a fascinating breed of people who, throughout history, were driven by their own dreams to create new ways of doing things. I loved getting inside their brains, trying to understand them, and writing from their point of view.