More role model than living person here, but still well worth the attention.
An introduction to a groundbreaking inventor known as “Lady Edison.”
The subtitle should be taken literally, as the author offers limited biographical information while zeroing in on her subject’s lifelong fascination with learning how machines and household items work and the “hyperphantasia”—the ability to visualize items in unusually exact detail—that helped Henry devise her inventions and improvements. Henry also had what she herself described as “color hearing,” now known as synesthesia, which Mazeika illustrates with stars and brightly hued curlicues floating through select scenes to represent dance music or street sounds. Beginning in 1913 with improvements to ladies’ parasols, Henry went on to file dozens of patents for significant refinements to sewing machines, kitchenware, doll designs, and more. She also shrugged off male resistance to the notion of a woman inventor and went into business for herself as a consultant and the founder of two manufacturing companies. Accompanied by several small but illustrative patent drawings, the afterword highlights Henry’s neurodiversity while promoting her lasting impact on women in STEM (her current obscurity notwithstanding). Looking forthright and confident beneath a coronal wreath of red hair, she and most of the other figures in the illustrations are white, but skin tones vary in some group and street scenes.
More role model than living person here, but still well worth the attention. (source list) (Picture-book biography. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9781665903639
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective.
The author of Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America (2004) tells her father’s tale again, for younger readers.
Though using a less personal tone this time and referring to herself in the third person, Robinson still devotes as much attention to his family life, youth and post-baseball career as she does to his achievements on the field. Writing in short sentences and simple language, she presents a clear picture of the era’s racial attitudes and the pressures he faced both in the military service and in baseball—offering plenty of clear reasons to regard him not just as a champion athlete, but as a hero too. An early remark about how he ran with “a bunch of black, Japanese, and Mexican boys” while growing up in Pasadena is insensitively phrased, and a sweeping claim that by 1949 “[t]he racial tension was broken” in baseball is simplistic. Nevertheless, by and large her account covers the bases adequately. The many photos include an admixture of family snapshots, and a closing Q-and-A allows the author to announce the imminent release of a new feature film about Robinson.
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective. (Biography. 8-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-54006-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
A squeaky-clean biography of the original Mouseketeer.
Scollon begins with the (to say the least) arguable claim that Disney grew up to “define and shape what would come to be known as the American Century.” Following this, he retraces Disney’s life and career, characterizing him as a visionary whose only real setbacks came from excess ambition or at the hands of unscrupulous film distributors. Disney’s brother Roy appears repeatedly to switch between roles as encourager and lead doubter, but except in chapters covering his childhood, the rest of his family only puts in occasional cameos. Unsurprisingly, there is no mention of Disney’s post–World War II redbaiting, and his most controversial film, Song of the South, gets only a single reference (and that with a positive slant). More puzzling is the absence of Mary Poppins from the tally of Disney triumphs. Still, readers will come away with a good general picture of the filmmaking and animation techniques that Disney pioneered, as well as a highlight history of his studio, television work and amusement parks. Discussion questions are appended: “What do you think were Walt Disney’s greatest accomplishments and why?” Brown’s illustrations not seen. An iconic success story that has often been told before but rarely so one-dimensionally or with such firm adherence to the company line. (bibliography) (Biography. 8-10)
Pub Date: July 15, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-9647-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Disney Press
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
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