With Glass’s rumply, spray-painted figures in period dress adding a loose-jointed air, Wooldridge pays tribute to Swedish-born John Ericsson. An inventor, his best work, from a speedy steam engine and a screw propeller for ships to a super-powered pump for fire trucks, was rejected as too radical—until his ironclad Monitor fought the Merrimac to a draw in the Civil War and brought him well-deserved fame. Dwelling on his successes, barely alluding to his (many) failures, and closing with additional biographical detail, this portrait of an engineer with both a gift for seeing “out of the present and into the possible,” and an unquenchable spirit, makes inspiring reading for budding innovators in the sciences or any other field. (Picture book/biography. 7-9)
