Skip to main content

Kid Inventors' Day

Benjamin Franklin did many impressive things throughout his life, but did you know when he was just 11 years old, he invented swim flippers?  Swim flippers may have been little Ben's first invention, but they would not be his last!  Benjamin Franklin would go on to become a prolific inventor, so it's no coincidence that January 17th, the anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birthday, was selected to be Kid Inventor's Day.  Benjamin Franklin was not the first or last kid to invent something cool, though.  Through the years other kids have invented all sorts of things, from the popsicle, to the trampoline, to ear muffs!  Check out our list of books below to learn more about inventors and get a few tips on how to become an inventor yourself.

Kid Innovators: True Tales of Childhood from Inventors and Trailblazers
By Robin Stevenson
Quirk Books, 2021. Informational.

Childhood biographies of sixteen trailblazers in technology, education, business, science, art, and entertainment.

Written by Judith St. George
Illustrated by David Small
Puffin Books, 2005. Informational.

Presents some of the characteristics of inventors by describing the inventions of people such as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and Eli Whitney.

Written by Mary Colson
Raintree, 2014. Informational.

Dreaming of becoming an inventor? Helpful tips for finding inspiration, keeping an ideas journal and always thinking about how to improve things will help you invent in no time! 

Written by Anne Renaud
Illustrated Milan Pavlovic
Kids Can Press, 2019. Informational.

Frank William Epperson was a curious boy who wanted to be an inventor when he grew up. His curiosity and experimenting led to one sweet invention--the popsicle!


Written by Monica Kulling
Illustrated by David Parkins
Tundra Books, 2011. Informational.

Recounts the life of Margaret Knight, eventual holder of twenty patents, who fought discrimination and proved that she was just as intelligent an inventor as a man.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Faker

Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...

Review: The Bletchley Riddle

  The Bletchley Riddle By Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin New York: Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2024. Fiction. 392 pages. It's spring of 1940, Hitler has swept through most of Europe, and people believe England will be next. Half Polish-Jewish, half American Jakob has been recruited from Cambridge to Bletchley Park where they are working on deciphering the enigma machine. Jakob's sister Lizzie, meanwhile, is being forced to move from London to Cleveland to live with her grandmother after her mother disappeared in a 1939 attack in Poland. Lizzie manages to escape the keeper her grandmother sent for her to bring her to America and makes her way to Bletchley, where she's eventually given the task of delivering messages between departments. When secret messages begin appearing with Lizzie's belongings, she must decipher them to find the truth about her mother's past and location, while keeping the secrets away from the MI5 agent that seems a little t...

Dragon Run

Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...