Kid Innovators: True Tales of Childhood from Inventors and Trailblazers
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-25 09:51:15
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Robin Stevenson
- ISBN：1683692276
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Moving， funny， and totally true childhood biographies of Bill Gates， Madam C。 J。 Walker， Hedy Lamarr， Walt Disney， and 12 other international innovators。
Throughout history people have experimented， invented， and created new ways of doing things。 Kid Innovators tells the stories of a diverse group of brilliant thinkers in fields like technology， education， business， science， art， and entertainment， reminding us that every innovator started out as a kid。 Florence Nightingale rescued baby mice。 Alan Turing was a daydreamer with terrible handwriting。 And Alvin Ailey felt like a failure at sports。 Featuring kid-friendly text and full-color illustrations， readers will learn about the young lives of people like Grace Hopper， Steve Jobs， Reshma Saujani， Jacques Cousteau， the Wright Brothers， William Kamkwamba， Elon Musk， Jonas Salk， and Maria Montessori。
Throughout history people have experimented， invented， and created new ways of doing things。 Kid Innovators tells the stories of a diverse group of brilliant thinkers in fields like technology， education， business， science， art， and entertainment， reminding us that every innovator started out as a kid。 Florence Nightingale rescued baby mice。 Alan Turing was a daydreamer with terrible handwriting。 And Alvin Ailey felt like a failure at sports。 Featuring kid-friendly text and full-color illustrations， readers will learn about the young lives of people like Grace Hopper， Steve Jobs， Reshma Saujani， Jacques Cousteau， the Wright Brothers， William Kamkwamba， Elon Musk， Jonas Salk， and Maria Montessori。
Reviews
Tabby Shiflett
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Part of a children's biographical series， this latest addition does not disappoint。 The colorful artwork and inspirational mini bios are a good place to start for kids who enjoy history or need direction for biography subjects。 Subjects include a wide range of people from different cultures and places。 Best for middle grades。Net Galley Feedback Part of a children's biographical series， this latest addition does not disappoint。 The colorful artwork and inspirational mini bios are a good place to start for kids who enjoy history or need direction for biography subjects。 Subjects include a wide range of people from different cultures and places。 Best for middle grades。Net Galley Feedback 。。。more
Fabulous Book Fiend
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This book was just great。 As a teacher I could definitely imagine having this in my classroom or using it as a jumping off point to talk about biography and autobiography or just discuss texts with a layout like this。 I thought the language use was appropriate and the length of each section well edited。 I also really love the fact that this book is written in four different sections dividing the innovators discussed into 'Tech Revolution'; 'Seas， Skies and Outer Space'; 'Cracking Codes And Savin This book was just great。 As a teacher I could definitely imagine having this in my classroom or using it as a jumping off point to talk about biography and autobiography or just discuss texts with a layout like this。 I thought the language use was appropriate and the length of each section well edited。 I also really love the fact that this book is written in four different sections dividing the innovators discussed into 'Tech Revolution'; 'Seas， Skies and Outer Space'; 'Cracking Codes And Saving Lives' and 'Trailblazers'。 The sections made it easy to navigate for me as a reader and would be great for a younger reader looking for someone in particular they were interested in。 I did not read this in a linear way and so I can attest to the ease of using these sections to navigate through the book。 I think that this book did a good job of picking a diverse range of Innovators to mentions。 I love that we have people who were trailblazers in many fields and people who kids would recognise and relate to as well as those who have flown somewhat under the radar。 I have had previous experience of sharing a text with children that mentioned Jaques Cousteau that was incredible inaccessible and so to have him mentioned in this book along with pictures and heading alongside fun facts I really enjoyed。 I do recommend this book and I would love to read more in this series！ 。。。more
Kara
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What a great book！ Comprehensive， appropriately paced and diverse。 I love the Kid series， I think it helps younger students （middle grade/elementary） see how their current interests could lead the way to a career they never thought of！ I love that we had classics like Walt Disney and Steve Jobs， but also included Maria Montessori， Jonas Salk， Alvin Ailey。
momreadsbooksinbtwn
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My 11yo son loves reading this series， we discovered it with the first two books Kid Presidents and Kid Athletes。 While this book has a different author and illustrator， it follows the same formula of layout and writing。 Shorter chapters and colorfully vibrant illustrations to keep the readers’ attention。 The really interesting element about the Kid Innovators book is the innovators’ experiences with adversity， either because they were just so eccentric， their ethnicity， or their family’s financ My 11yo son loves reading this series， we discovered it with the first two books Kid Presidents and Kid Athletes。 While this book has a different author and illustrator， it follows the same formula of layout and writing。 Shorter chapters and colorfully vibrant illustrations to keep the readers’ attention。 The really interesting element about the Kid Innovators book is the innovators’ experiences with adversity， either because they were just so eccentric， their ethnicity， or their family’s financial status。 The stories show the innovators struggling， failing， and persevering to be successful， all of which are great life lessons for our kids。 From Jonas Salk who created the Polio vaccine to Elon Musk founder of Tesla and SpaceX to Florence Nightingale and her transformation of nursing and medicine， these are all amazing true stories that will entertain and energize a young reader。 。。。more
Meghan
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This book was received as an ARC from Quirk Books in exchange for an honest review。 Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own。I was absolutely amazed at the stories and illustrations for each innovator。 It's so much fun to go back into their childhood and see how they grew up and what inspired them to fulfill their dreams。 I loved the stories of Madame CJ Walker， Steve Jobs， and the Wright Brothers to name a few but all of the stories I was able to learn something new This book was received as an ARC from Quirk Books in exchange for an honest review。 Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own。I was absolutely amazed at the stories and illustrations for each innovator。 It's so much fun to go back into their childhood and see how they grew up and what inspired them to fulfill their dreams。 I loved the stories of Madame CJ Walker， Steve Jobs， and the Wright Brothers to name a few but all of the stories I was able to learn something new and who doesn't love a book like that。 I know our fifth graders for their biography project will find this book very helpful and will demand use of it。We will consider adding this title to our J Biography collection at our library。 That is why we give this book 5 stars。 。。。more
Melissa Chung
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First I want to thank Quirk Books for sending me this copy of Kid Innovators for an honest review。 I was interested to read and review this book because I work in an Elementary School as a 3rd grade Instructional Aide and I thought my 3rd graders would love this book and I wanted to read it before I gave it to the class。 I own both the Kid Innovators and Kid Authors written by two different authors， but with the same amount of kid friendly facts。Kid Innovators is broken up into 4 Parts: Tech Rev First I want to thank Quirk Books for sending me this copy of Kid Innovators for an honest review。 I was interested to read and review this book because I work in an Elementary School as a 3rd grade Instructional Aide and I thought my 3rd graders would love this book and I wanted to read it before I gave it to the class。 I own both the Kid Innovators and Kid Authors written by two different authors， but with the same amount of kid friendly facts。Kid Innovators is broken up into 4 Parts: Tech Revolution， Seas， Skies， and Outer Space， Cracking Codes and Saving Lives and lastly， Trailblazers。 There were people that I have obviously hard of from these Innovators: Steve Jobs and Bill Gates for example， but there were many people that sadly I have never heard of and I'm so happy to have read about them here。 Grace Hopper， Reshma Saujani， William Kamkwamba， Hedy Lamarr， Maria Montessori and Madam C。J。 Walker。The book is filled with illustrations by Allison Steinfeld。 Each mini biography follows the same kind of timeline。 Where the person was born， how they got their ideas from a young age， how all of these children were vivacious readers and sometimes introverted， lonely， weird， and or bullied。A quote by Grace Hopper I really enjoyed reading， "Teach them [kids] to go ahead do it， teach them to have courage。 Teach them to use their intuition， to stick their necks out。" She continues with this。。。"I always tell young people: Go ahead and do it。 You can always apologize later。" Of course she isn't suggesting that young people do whatever they want， but when it comes to taking something apart to see how it works or trying to build something and it goes wrong and breaks something like a window。 You can always apologize later。What I like most about this series from Quirk is that it shows kids that people don't just grow up and be brilliant。 They start off as children with brilliant ideas and continue to experiment with those ideas until they have reached their goal。 Kids are just as amazing as adults。 According to Amazon， the writing in this book is at the reading level of 9-12 years so between 4 and 7 grade and the AR point is 4 so if your kid is looking to bump up their AR points this might be a good book to read。 。。。more
Amy Walker - Trans-Scribe Reviews
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History is one of the most important subjects for children。 Not only does it show how we got the world we're in right now， but it also allows us to build better futures。 A good knowledge of what's come before can help to inspire people to go on to do great things， and Kid Innovators is a prime example of a book that can show children that they can achieve amazing things。The book is split into sections， with each one featuring a handful of people from across the world and across history， some rec History is one of the most important subjects for children。 Not only does it show how we got the world we're in right now， but it also allows us to build better futures。 A good knowledge of what's come before can help to inspire people to go on to do great things， and Kid Innovators is a prime example of a book that can show children that they can achieve amazing things。The book is split into sections， with each one featuring a handful of people from across the world and across history， some recent， and some much older。 There'll be names in the book that a lot of readers will be familiar with， such as Bill Gates or Florence Nightingale， but also a lot of lesser known people like William Kamkwamba and Maria Montessori。 There are sections for things such as technology， or saving lives。 Each person in the book is given several pages where Robin Stevenson talks about their life and their achievements， but particular focus is given over to their childhoods。 A good many of these biographies tend to skip over much of these people's later years， even if these are the years where they achieved the most or are best known for。 This is intentional， as the book seems to be trying to encourage children to pursue their interests， to find their passion and never give up; things that were a vital part of these people's lives。As the book is designed to appeal to younger readers there's a lot of illustrations throughout， with each biography getting several。 The illustrations are bold， bright， and colourful， and help to break up what could be quite long and dry sections of writing for younger readers。Along with the short biographies the book has a list of additional books that readers could check out if they're interested of learning more， and as such this makes a pretty good starting resource for readers of all ages。 The book is designed for children， but I learnt some new things because of it， and as such am definitely going to be going out of my way to learn a little bit more if I can。A great introduction to some interesting and inspiring people that could capture a child's imagination and encourage them to pursue their dreams。 。。。more
Kayla
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I want to thank Quirk Books for a copy of Kid Innovator in exchange for my honest review。 This book is on sale now through their website or your favorite bookstore！Kid Innovators is the seventh book in the Kid Legends series， but the great thing is each book stands on its own， with its own theme。 This was the first book I've read in the series， and even though I have seen this series at bookstores， on my library dash， and the Quirk website， I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into。 The first I want to thank Quirk Books for a copy of Kid Innovator in exchange for my honest review。 This book is on sale now through their website or your favorite bookstore！Kid Innovators is the seventh book in the Kid Legends series， but the great thing is each book stands on its own， with its own theme。 This was the first book I've read in the series， and even though I have seen this series at bookstores， on my library dash， and the Quirk website， I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into。 The first thing you notice about Kid Innovators is the cover artwork by Allison Steinfeld。 It's bright， fun， and catches your eye right off the bat。 This continues through the entire book bringing the histories of each person to life。 It adds a great visual to the book。 I felt it was a great addition for younger readers who might get bored with just words on a page， but it also brings a bit of the story to life。 And， I love the character drawings she did for each person。 But， the artwork while a great addition to each little biography that gets told， wasn't my favorite part。 My favorite part was the language that Robin Stevenson used throughout this book。 One of the biggest turn-offs for me in middle grade is when it feels like authors talk down to readers。 Just because this book is aged toward younger kids doesn't mean you cannot use bigger words， and that's exactly what Robin Stevenson does。 Even I had to jump on Google to puzzle out a few things， and I don't think that's a bad thing。 This a nonfiction book， meant to teach。 But， this is anything but dry。 Stevenson found a balance in the book that I that was spectacular。 Each story is upbeat and she definitely tries to make learning fun， but without shying away from certain facts。 She mentions slavery in the chapter about Madam CJ Walker， she mentions Alan Turing's suicide， hard topics， but important ones nonetheless。 Yet， Stevenson handles it in a way that could spark conversation， and without too much explanation， leaving room for parents， or teachers， to explain these topics as needed。Stevenson does all of that but somehow still manages to use a tone that I feel would excite a lot of young readers。As an adult reader， I enjoyed the fact that there were quite of individuals that I didn't know anything about inside this book。 Which made the book a little more enjoyable to read because it wasn't filled with histories I'd learned before。 I also really liked that each chapter was fairly short but packed full of information。 Each person got a little bit of their back story that explained how they ended being the innovator they would eventually become。 Basically， these are mini-biographies that are well researched， and a wonderful introduction to each person。 A great starting point that includes a bibliography page at the end of the book， in case anyone wants to read more on a certain person。 I really enjoyed this book and how brightly colored and fun it was to read。 I loved the section's pages and how they were done up almost like circus posters。 All around it's an inviting read。 My only big complaint about this book was a personal one。 For reasons， I skipped the chapter on Elon Musk。 I just wasn't interested。 Everything else though was fantastic。 This is a great book for kids who love science， computers， inventing。 Or， kids who love nonfiction and learning。So a huge thank you to Quirk for sending this my way。 While Kid Innovator isn't going into my permanent collection， it's going to a kid I know will love it！ 。。。more
Ciera Moore
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This book was so adorable！ I love books that empower kids to aim for the sky and be whatever they want to be。 By seeing books like this one a child is less likely to think they aren't capable， so I'm all for increasing the number of books targeted for children's inspiration。 The images were really cute and I can't wait to see the completed book。 The information was also laid out in a really easy-to-read format that is perfect for kids！ I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that wants This book was so adorable！ I love books that empower kids to aim for the sky and be whatever they want to be。 By seeing books like this one a child is less likely to think they aren't capable， so I'm all for increasing the number of books targeted for children's inspiration。 The images were really cute and I can't wait to see the completed book。 The information was also laid out in a really easy-to-read format that is perfect for kids！ I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn about famous innovators throughout history。 。。。more
Ms。 Yingling
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Copy provided by the PublisherThese books are an excellent resource for students who aren't quite sure who to do for a biography project， or who want wider exposure to a variety of individuals in order to get ideas for further reading。 If I had been allowed to buy more than the occasional Scholastic paperback as a child， I would have loved owning the entire set！Divided into Tech Revolution， Sea， Skies， and Out Space， Cracking Codes and Saving Lives， and Trailblzers， this book showcases 16 differ Copy provided by the PublisherThese books are an excellent resource for students who aren't quite sure who to do for a biography project， or who want wider exposure to a variety of individuals in order to get ideas for further reading。 If I had been allowed to buy more than the occasional Scholastic paperback as a child， I would have loved owning the entire set！Divided into Tech Revolution， Sea， Skies， and Out Space， Cracking Codes and Saving Lives， and Trailblzers， this book showcases 16 different innovators， from the fairly common （the Wright Brothers， Steve Jobs， and Florence Nightingale） to the less well known （Reshma Suajani， William Kamkwamba， and Alvin Ailey）。 Each person is given 6-8 pages， much of which is spent on their childhoods， with less coverage given to their adult accomplishments and later lives。 This information is accompanied by illustrations， and there are lists of further reading as well as an index at the back。 These books make a perfect gift for a curious child or for the classroom library in an elementary school， and always remind me of my first book addiction， the Childhood of Famous Americans books by Simon and Schuster， first published in the 1940s。 Now I really want to hunt down people who have become somewhat obscure， like Eugene Fields！ 。。。more
Erin Buhr
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Another edition of the Kid Legends series is here。 This is full of true tales from the childhoods of different inventors and trailblazers。 It includes people like Walt Disney， Grace Hopper， Steve Jobs， Jacques Cousteau and more。 It is a great collection of daring， innovative people。 I like the focus on their childhood and the balance of genders included。 Each person has a chapter devoted to their early story and a little about their biggest accomplishments。 These chapters are about 10 pages long Another edition of the Kid Legends series is here。 This is full of true tales from the childhoods of different inventors and trailblazers。 It includes people like Walt Disney， Grace Hopper， Steve Jobs， Jacques Cousteau and more。 It is a great collection of daring， innovative people。 I like the focus on their childhood and the balance of genders included。 Each person has a chapter devoted to their early story and a little about their biggest accomplishments。 These chapters are about 10 pages long。 I wish the language was a little more magical like the picture book biographies that are growing so popular right now。 Overall， however， this is a solid resource for a kid wishing to learning more about one of these people or who enjoys nonfiction stories about real people。 。。。more
Kailey （Luminous Libro）
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All inventors start out as curious kids who love to learn and explore。 This book gives short biographies of some famous innovators and how their childhood shaped their dreams。 The bios include the stories of Steve Jobs， Jacques Cousteau， Florence Nightingale， Walt Disney， the Wright brothers， and many others。There are sections about technology， exploring， codes， medicine， and trailblazers。 It's not just about inventing something new。 It's about revolutionizing how something is used， how art is c All inventors start out as curious kids who love to learn and explore。 This book gives short biographies of some famous innovators and how their childhood shaped their dreams。 The bios include the stories of Steve Jobs， Jacques Cousteau， Florence Nightingale， Walt Disney， the Wright brothers， and many others。There are sections about technology， exploring， codes， medicine， and trailblazers。 It's not just about inventing something new。 It's about revolutionizing how something is used， how art is created， or how people think。 The history of computer codes， airplanes， wind turbines， rockets， nursing， hair products， entertainment， and a dozen other fields are explored。Each biography is about 10 pages long， and includes inspiring quotes from the famous person。 I appreciated that this book sometimes admits that the person had a controversial life。 They were not perfect and maybe did some bad things， but their contributions are still good。 There is a balance in the writing that doesn't hide any undesirable things， but still accepts and celebrates the good。There are cartoony illustrations on each page depicting scenes from the lives of each person。 I loved the colorful artwork！ The designs are so clever and attractive。This book encourages young people to think outside the box and problem-solve with new ideas。Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author in exchange for a free and honest review。 All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts， and are not influenced by anyone。 。。。more
Pam
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I received an electronic ARC from Quirk Books through NetGalley。Stevenson offers biographies that are geared to elementary level readers。 Sixteen men and women who have made changes in the world through their creativity and ingenuity。 The text provides enough information to challenge readers to learn and grow。 Most of the biographies begin with their birth or early childhood so readers can identify with pieces of their lives。 The simple illustrations offer glimpses into certain moments of their I received an electronic ARC from Quirk Books through NetGalley。Stevenson offers biographies that are geared to elementary level readers。 Sixteen men and women who have made changes in the world through their creativity and ingenuity。 The text provides enough information to challenge readers to learn and grow。 Most of the biographies begin with their birth or early childhood so readers can identify with pieces of their lives。 The simple illustrations offer glimpses into certain moments of their lives as well。 One more in this series that encourages readers to learn about the past and begin to identify their own passions and strengths。 。。。more
Jeimy
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The Kid Legend Series is amazing and this latest title is no exception。 It is divided into four parts （Tech Revolution; Seas， Skies， and Outer Space; Cracking Codes and Saving Lives; and Trailblazers） and includes such innovators as Grace Hopper， Jacques Cousteau， Hedy Lamarr; and Alvin Ailey。 All the names were familiar to me， but some readers may not recognize Reshma Saujani and William Kamkwamba。
Andréa
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Note: I accessed digital review copies of this book through NetGalley and Edelweiss。
Desiree
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