17th January K.I.D. Kid Inventor's Day

Kid Inventor's Day is celebrated annually on 17th January, the birthday of Benjamin Franklin, who invented the first swim flippers, almost 300 years ago at age 12! 

Did you know that the snowmobile, flippers, popsicles, and braille were all invented by children?

These picture book biographies are about child inventors:

The Boy Who Invented the Popsicle  by Anne Renaud

Ben Franklin's Big Splash  by Barb Rosenstock

Six Dots  by Jen Bryant

The Boy Who Invented TV  by Kathleen Kroll

Marvellous Mattie  by Emily Arnold McCully

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind  by William Kwamkwamba

Lily the Inventor  by Claire Thompson

Here are three reasons for sharing picture books about inventors with classes.

• Creativity and Imagination: Inventors often think outside the box and imagine new possibilities. Sharing these books nurtures creativity and imagination in children, encouraging them to explore unconventional ideas and embrace their imagination.
• Problem-Solving Skills: Inventors face challenges and solve problems; picture books about inventors can teach children valuable problem-solving skills. They showcase the process of identifying problems, thinking critically, and coming up with inventive solutions.
• Persistence and Resilience: Inventions often involve trial and error, setbacks, and perseverance. Picture books about inventors teach kids the value of persistence, resilience, and the importance of not giving up in the face of challenges.

There are many picture books, not about specific inventions that also encourage students to 'have a go at' making things. 

• Rosie Revere Engineer  by Andrea Beaty

• If I Build a Car  by Chris Van Dusen

• Awesome Dawson by Chris Gall

• Violet the Pilot  by Steve Green

• Doll-E 1.0  by Shanda McCloskey

• The Magnificent Thing  by Ashley Spires

• Izzy Gizmo and the Invention Convention by Pip Jones 

• Dotty Inventions  by Roger McGough

• Made by Maxine  by Ruth Spiro

• Melia and Jo  by Billy Aronson

• Ara the Star Engineer  by Komal Singh

• Sadie Sprocket Builds a Rocket  by Sue Fliess

• Bonnie's Rocket  by Emeline Lee

and a series of short chapter books about Izzy the Inventor by Zanna Davidson

16th November World Idea Day

World Idea Day was founded because ideas are powerful tools to do good things in the world. Without ideas, we would be neither creative nor innovative. In that regard, progress would simply not happen. However, ideas have to be realised and concretised in the real world! That's when action comes in. While ideas are our guides, action is what creates change!

Read about how ideas feature in our thinking, our creativity and play here:

• What Do You Do With an Idea? by Kobi Yamada is such a popular book in our school library that I bought a second copy.  They are always on loan to a teacher and in classrooms.

• Once Upon a Big Idea  by James carter

Provides lots of discussion about ideas and where they might lead.

•  I Have an Idea!  by Herve Tullet

This book is an exploration of the creative process from the hunt for an idea to the frustration of choosing the wrong side, to the exhilaration of having just the right idea.

• The Most Magnificent Idea  by Ashley Spires

The girl in this story, with her dog at her side, loves to make things. Her brain, she says, is an "idea machine," so full of ideas that she can hardly keep up. But then one day... it isn't. All of a sudden, the girl can't come up with a single idea for what to make. She tries everything: brainstorming, gathering new supplies, even jumping up and down on one foot to shake an idea loose. But, nothing. The girl realises, with no ideas taking up space in her brain, it's filling with sad instead.                          

• The Very Important Idea  by Emma Dodson

This amusing picture book tells the story of a rat and a cat, and explores the nature of ideas. Where do they come from and how are they rated? A good idea for a cat is not necessarily the same thing as a good idea for a rat...as Rat discovers not long after being employed by Mr Fat Cat.

4th March World Engineering Day

World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development was proclaimed by UNESCO at its 40th General Conference in 2019. It is has been celebrated worldwide on 4th March of each year since 2020 as a UNESCO international day of celebration of engineers and engineering.

I have a six year old boy who visits the library quite often to see if i have bought anymore books about engineering. He announced very early on that he was going to be an engineer! neither of his parents are engineers, but he is sure that's what he wants to do. Initially it was easy to provide him with books. I gave him these:

 

But where do I go now?

After searching through the catalogue and reading blurbs I will try:

I noticed how many of the books I was choosing had girls as main characters and thought how appropriate for this week as we will be celebrating International Women's Day. I have already done a display of biographies where I included books such as these:

Emily Roebling

Margaret E. Knight

Frances Gabe

 Zaha Hadid

(There are other biographies about Zaha as well)

Beatrice Shilling

Raye Montague

If you miss today, you can always celebrate International Women in Engineering Day on 23rd June.

11th February Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931)

Thomas Edison is considered the greatest inventor of all time and is best known probably because of the light bulb, which he didn't in fact invent, but he improved it to make the incandescent light bulb, a more practical and efficient one. He did invent other things that have also brought great change in our lives. Imagine a life without CDs, videos, television or radio, because over a hundred years ago these did not exist and entertainment had to be homemade. Then Edison invented the phonograph which recorded sound for the first time. In a  picture book in our library called Edison's Fantastic Phonograph, by Diana Kimpton and M.P.Robertson, Edison's daughter, Dot tells the story of how her father did it. This book also includes a brief biography of Edison.

Another book, Timeless Thomas; How Edison Changed Our Lives  by Gene Baretta is a more comprehensive biography of Edison and a fun reader from the Flying Foxes series,  Magic Mr Edison by Andrew Copeland imbeds some of the Edison story and facts  into a tale where a boy called Dan chases his dog to Mr Edison's house. There he finds all manner of amazing inventions including a light bulb that turns on at the flick of a switch.

Each of these books make the life of Thomas Edison and his memorable inventions very accessible to young children.