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.

11th February Holly Keller (1942) National Inventors Day

Of course it is Jane Yolen and Mo Willems birthday, but I wrote about them last year and they are very well known. Today I want to focus on Holly Keller. She is an American author and a prolific illustrator, having illustrated so many books for other authors, especially science titles. When she also does the writing she tends to choose to have animal protagonists who deal with family issues such as sibling rivalry, adoption, fitting in and coping with a change like the death of a pet. There's a series of stories about each of these, Geraldine, a piglet, Henry, a possum, and Horace, a leopard who is adopted by tigers. But, my favourite of her books is Grandfather's Dream, a story set in the ricefields of a river delta in Vietnam. Nam's grandfather has told her stories about the cranes who frequented the area before the war and they would like them to return. This beautiful story has many layers of meaning and an important message which is accessible to a large age range. The book could be used with children from four to twelve, whereas many of Holly's other books are for a much younger audience.

National Inventors Day commemorates the birth of Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931). While there are many information books which feature him such as Marcia Williams's Three Cheers for Inventors! I thought it would be fun to read a book to younger children that features an inventor. Louise Yates has a new book Frank and Teddy Make Friends in which Frank, a mouse is always inventing things including a new friend, Teddy.