What's the Big Idea?: Inventions that Changed Life on Earth Forever - Hardcover

Becker, Helaine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1897349602 ISBN 13: 9781897349601

Publisher: Owlkids, 2009

Synopsis

This lively book by an award-winning author brings to life the history of human innovation for young readers. What's the Big Idea? focuses on those inventions that help fulfill people's six basic needs: food, sleep, security, shelter, companionship, and good health. Main spreads feature a specific invention such as the wheel and axle, paper, bicycles, or the Internet. Each one starts with a "What’s the Big Idea?" box that explains the problem the inventors were trying to solve. It answers the pertinent questions: Why this invention and why now? "Fast Facts" and "Big Ideas" sidebars give young readers quick blasts of information reference-style. Twelve special spreads scattered throughout the book highlight either a famous inventor or a specific theme. The "Inventor Biography" spreads profile inventors such as da Vinci, Galileo, and Thomas Edison, and summarize their main inventions. Comic strips deliver an added snippet of information and a humorous punch. Helaine Becker's witty, inventive text and Steve Attoe's wonderfully whimsical art make this a book children can enjoy while they learn.

About this title

About the Authors

HELAINE BECKER has published in many children's genres, from humorous verse to educational textbooks. Her knack for blending humor and education into a satisfying package that both delights and informs is recognized by critics and booksellers across North America. Her award-winning books include Boredom Blasters, Secret Agent Y.O.U., and Science on the Loose. Originally from New York, she lives in Toronto with her husband and two sons.

STEVE ATTOE’s illustrations appear regularly in OWL and chickaDEE magazines. He is also a well-known cartoonist - his collections were included in The 100 Best Comics of the Century. When not in his home studio creating funny characters and cartoons for children, he can be found speeding around his hometown of Calgary on his bicycle.

Reviews

In her introduction, Becker says that she was inspired to write this lighthearted history of technology after reading a single “cool, weird” fact: bicycles were invented, in part, because of a huge nineteenth-century volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Such isolated events or questions that spurred the creation of world-changing inventions are the focus of this title’s information-packed spreads, which move chronologically from a stone wheel to an MP3 player. Illustrated with full-color cartoons of multicultural characters through the ages, the short paragraphs have a casual, colloquial tone (“mathematician John Venn invented the—wait for it—Venn diagram”), even as they explain complex concepts with clear language and examples designed to hook kids’ interest. With such brief bites of information, there isn’t enough to support reports here, and no source notes or suggested resources are included. Still, the language and images, both serious and goofy, will easily attract browsers, who will want to collect the bizarre stories behind everyday objects, while young inventors and scientists will find ideas on every page. Grades 3-6. --Gillian Engberg

Edition details

• Publisher: Owlkids
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1897349602
• ISBN 13: 9781897349601
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Attoe Steve
• Number of pages: 96