Review by Booklist Review
This quirky but oddly compelling compendium of contraptions will make a lovely leisure-reading addition to STEM collections. Though not intended for research no notes, no sources it's still informative and very entertaining. Twenty-eight ingenious projects that actually worked, even if only in theory, or even if only once (including a couple that imploded upon debut), are presented in four-page spreads. Brief, breezy narratives cover basic background information, historical context, and public reaction. The most fascinating features, however, are the detailed, captioned drawings with cutaways and arrows that show the step-by-step mechanics behind several creations. Add cheeky cartoon spreads of each gizmo's imagined first public appearance, in appropriate time and place, including onlookers' sometimes amazed but usually unimpressed and rather irreverent commentary, and middle-grade readers should be hooked. The audience won't be limited to tech nerds; there's plenty in here to attract browsers, whether to soak up some historical trivia, be inspired by resourceful visionaries, or pore over the pictures.--McBroom, Kathleen Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-7-This book describes a collection of inventions that don't quite work and don't seem to be taken too seriously either. The content is not arranged in any particular order-not chronologically or thematically. An invention from 1709 is followed by one from 2012, which is followed by one from the third century BCE. Each invention is first presented in a spread with text and illustrations and then followed by another spread showing people's responses to the invention. These responses are cartoonlike and contain speech bubbles that often poke fun at the invention. The entry on the personal cloud maker shows people on the beach and plays their body size for laughs ("They don't make beach towels like they used to" remarks a large woman on a small towel). While the book opens with a short discussion of what motivates people to invent-namely creativity, passion, and dedication-the main text does not significantly develop this idea. VERDICT An unusual approach to invention, but most collections will want to skip.-Myra -Zarnowski, City University of New York © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Translated from the Polish, this sturdy book of curiosities introduces failed inventions. Each entry is described in text and diagram; the following spread depicts an imagined functional version in an amusing scene. Both the prose and the limited-palette illustrations have a dry humor complemented by the pages' matte finish. Poor layout choices and unclear organization mar an otherwise enjoyable book and concept. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Descriptions of over three dozen historical inventionsa few of which, at least, have turned out to be not as harebrained as they may seem at first glance.Pride of place goes, of course, to Leonardo da Vinci, though other eccentric visionaries such as Heron of Alexandria (a mysteriously self-opening door) and Nikola Tesla (planetwide wireless electric power) earn nods. Along with a squadron of vehicles that would (supposedly) fly or float into the air, the authors present a variety of ancient timepieces, including one that used scents, oddball vehicles driven by steam, a device that sorts small candies by color, the once-renowned chess-playing (fake) automaton known as the "Mechanical Turk," an LP record made of ice, a flatulence deodorizer, and like oddities. Nearly all of these saw at least experimental modelsthough, in the case of Leonardo's ornithopter, not until 2010. The entries are arranged in no particular order. Most come with labeled schematic illustrations of the invention and, on the following pages, a broader cityscape or other scene featuring witnesses offering humorous comments or critical observations ("We forgot to add brakes!"). Human figures are all caricatures, European of features except for one group of Chinese.An amiable ramble past some of the quirkier highlights in the history of invention. (Nonfiction. 10-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
