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
Even the youngest readers deserve better documented and less simplified nonfiction. Look elsewhere.
Johnson and Jackson’s eye-catching cover is the sharpest part of this bland and historically dubious tale of Garrett Morgan’s invention of the traffic signal.
In "a time when there were no stop lights" (the early 1920s, though it’s not specified), horses, buggies and bicycles share roads with cars. Morgan, standing at an intersection, witnesses a traumatic accident in which a car crashes head-on into a horse-drawn carriage. The dramatic illustration of this moment is appropriately disturbing, showing the horse upside-down with comics-like jagged yellow stars around it. Upset by the accident, Morgan ponders the problem and "invent[s] the first electric signal light to tell the traffic when to stop and go," then sells the invention to General Electric. While the arc of the story is adequate, climaxing with the accident, the author’s research is open to questioning: Most sources claim that Morgan’s traffic signal, while certainly a significant contribution to the history of signal lights, was not the first. Many sources also claim that the sale of his invention to GE is a myth. The lack of citation–sources, bibliography, suggested further reading–renders the author’s assertions controvertible. The shiny, attractive cover and well-designed–if otherwise mundane–artwork fades under the author’s unsubstantiated and likely incorrect historical reporting.
Even the youngest readers deserve better documented and less simplified nonfiction. Look elsewhere. (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
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