The text’s glaring missteps–including vagueness, factual inaccuracy and lack of citations–sink this effort.
An odd, nicely illustrated volume that suffers from serious content problems.
"Many years ago” (unspecified), "slaves used to cut down sugar cane with big heavy knives," after which they boiled down the cane and poured the steaming juice from kettle to kettle. This process continued until Norbert Rillieux invented a sugar-refining machine. Sims focuses the narrative on Rillieux and his invention, which made the process easier and the sugar better. With the old method, sugar remained "dark and thick"; Rillieux’s stated goal was to cook it "without turning it brown." However, the author never explains why brown sugar is inadequate: Is it burnt? Is it unpalatable? Did the sugar’s darkness and molasses-like consistency affect its distribution? Lacking explanation, the issue become aesthetic. Worse, the author’s references to slavery are cavalier and obscure. Rillieux was "a slave," says Sims, "but he was sent to college." Readers who understand slavery won’t understand how he was sent to college. More importantly, however, the information is incorrect: Rillieux was actually either born free or freed at birth; he was never a slave. Tracing this error is impossible because Sims offers no citations or sources. The second-to-last sentence–"His invention helped the slaves and it helped everybody in the world"–dangerously oversimplifies by ignoring context. The illustrations, on the other hand, are excellently composed and designed.
The text’s glaring missteps–including vagueness, factual inaccuracy and lack of citations–sink this effort. (Nonfiction. 4-7)Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Visually pleasing, but thin.
This appealing small-scale introduction to inventor Jan Earnst Matzeliger offers pleasant illustrations but too little nitty-gritty detail.
Born in Surinam in 1852, Matzeliger came to the United States and worked in Lynn, Mass., as a cobbler. While most shoe-making tasks were handled by machine, "lasting"–fastening the top of the shoe to the sole–was done by hand. This process slowed shoe production and severely limited the number of shoes available to the public. After years of development, Matzeliger invented a machine that lasted shoe uppers to soles, forever improving the shoe-making industry. The change affected both workers and consumers. Santiago’s illustrations, in line and water-based paint, feature too-similar faces, but are pleasantly engaging and creatively varied in design. The process of hand-lasting is explained visually as well as textually. However, the machine that Matzeliger finally invents–which should be the pinnacle of the story–is less clearly depicted. The illustrations fail to show how it works, and the text doesn’t offer an explanation. The author’s language–sometimes awkward, sometimes simple and direct–honors the perseverance of the inventor; however, readers old enough to appreciate inventor/invention stories will be frustrated by the dearth of mechanical details or technical explanation, as well as the lack of a bibliography or suggestions for further reading.
Visually pleasing, but thin. (Nonfiction. 4-7)Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Tolerable, but not special.
This simple chronicle of Garrett Morgan’s development of the gas mask has an engaging plot and a satisfying ending, but offers little technical explanation.
The first sentence features an explosion, 228 feet under Lake Erie in a work tunnel, where "smoke, natural gases, dust, and debris" trap a group of men. Nobody is able to reach them safely, until Morgan, who has been demonstrating "a breathing machine or gas inhalator," rushes to the scene and, along with his brother and two other volunteers, ventures into the tunnel, the gas masks enabling them to breathe in the smoky chamber. The author paces the story well, and the last two spreads are satisfying: The government purchases the mask for soldiers to use during World War I, as well as for firefighters and police, and Morgan receives the recognition he deserves. But without citations or a bibliography, the book’s accuracy remains dubious, and readers may be disappointed by the lack of mechanical detail: How did the mask actually work? Jackson’s colors are unvaryingly harsh, and the light levels are not clearly differentiated. The picture of the men going "[d]own, down, down … into the darkness," for example, is no darker than any other.
Tolerable, but not special. (Nonfiction. 4-7)Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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