Thomas Edison for kids His life and ideas, 21 activities

Gr. 4-7. Carlson combines, with some success, a lively biography of one of the most creative and inventive minds in history with 21 activity pages that students can use to replicate some of the simplest of Edison's experiments. Edison, mostly deaf and thought to be a slow learner as a child, never stopped investigating. He tended to ignore his first wife and their children and didn't do much better with his second set, but he brought the world the phonograph, incandescent electric light, the storage battery, the moving-picture projector--and an electric pen now used in tattooing. He also pretty much created the Skunk Works labratory model that Apple, Microsoft, and many other think tanks use today. A handful of sidebars about Henry Ford, Nikola Tesla, and others whose lives and work intersected with Edison's, and black-and-white illustrations, many of them period, contribute texture. An extensive list of resources adds value. --GraceAnne DeCandido Copyright 2006 Booklist

Gr 5-9-Presented chronologically and always in a positive light, the inventor's life is described in considerable detail. Being the workaholic that he was, it's understandable that there's little mention of his personal life once he moves out of his teens. Enough detail is given about his childhood that one senses the single-mindedness that drove his genius. However, with so much emphasis on Edison's many inventions and projects, one can easily get bogged down. Photographs, frequent diagrams, and sidebars add interesting insights. Short biographies of his peers, both friends and foes, are included. The activities tend to have text-heavy instructions and lack detailed diagrams. The explanation of atoms and their charges in "Make an Electrically Charged Puppet Dance" is inaccurate. Also, some of the activities become repetitious, particularly those showing the persistence of vision phenomenon used to achieve motion photography. Sources for science experiments, lists of related museums, and Web sites are appended. For Edison enthusiasts and invention fans, this book is a serviceable addition. Most libraries that own Brian Williams's Thomas Alva Edison (Heinemann Library, 2001) or Marfe Ferguson Delano's Inventing the Future (National Geographic, 2002) don't need it.-Carol S. Surges, McKinley Elementary School, Wauwatosa, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Carlson tucks 21 science activities, most at least slightly related to Edison's inventions, into this account of his career and times. Portraying him as a self-taught go-getter with terrible business sense but an unrelenting work ethic, an altruistic impulse that led him deliberately to leave some of his ideas unpatented, and a mischievous streak (one of his early, lesser-known inventions was an electrified cockroach trap), the author follows him from itinerant youth to renowned old age with side glances at his private life, as well as general descriptions of his major inventions and (usually ill-fated) business ventures. She also keeps the projects simple, stressing the use of common materials and noting when adult supervision is required. Illustrated with period diagrams and photos, and closing with a generous resource list, this makes a solid addition to the Edison shelf--though for capturing its subject's maverick genius, or enduring effect on our daily lives, it isn't going to replace Marfé Ferguson Delano's Inventing the Future: A Photobiography of Thomas Alva Edison (2002). (Biography. 9-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.