(3) 4-6 Alternator Books: STEM Smackdown series. These lively narratives investigate controversies surrounding who actually developed widely used STEM advances. Each text traces an invention's history, technology, and development by following the contest between two people, each of whom have claimed to be the true inventor. Well-designed with captioned color and black-and-white photographs, paintings, and diagrams, the books should intrigue readers and encourage further research. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Alternator Books: STEM Smackdown titles: Who Invented the Light Bulb?, Who Invented the Radio?, Who Invented the Telephone?, Who Invented the Airplane?, Who Invented the Movie Camera?, and Who Invented the Television?

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) 4-6 Alternator Books: STEM Smackdown series. These lively narratives investigate controversies surrounding who actually developed widely used STEM advances. Each text traces an invention's history, technology, and development by following the contest between two people, each of whom have claimed to be the true inventor. Well-designed with captioned color and black-and-white photographs, paintings, and diagrams, the books should intrigue readers and encourage further research. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Alternator Books: STEM Smackdown titles: Who Invented the Light Bulb?, Who Invented the Radio?, Who Invented the Telephone?, Who Invented the Airplane?, Who Invented the Movie Camera?, and Who Invented the Television?

Reviewer: Jack Forman

(3) K-3 Translated by Henry David Wilson. In this lengthy picture book (translated from the German), two adventurous mice build a miniature submarine to find a sunken treasure referenced in an ancestor's letter. They discover a sealed book of inventions in the shipwreck and realize their ancestor helped create the light bulb. Immersive illustrations with occasional wordless spreads highlight the scale of the tiny undersea explorers. More about "The Invention of the Electric Light" and Thomas Edison is appended.

Reviewer: Russell Perry

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Benjamin Hummel. In 1891, during Benjamin Harrison's presidency, the President's House (later renamed the White House) was wired for electricity by Thomas Edison's nineteen-year-old apprentice Ike Hoover, who ultimately stayed on the job for forty-two years. Rather than a biography, this is informative but pedestrian historical fiction, with invented dialogue and caricaturish sepia illustrations. End matter includes notes on the historical characters. Reading list, websites. Glos.

Reviewer: Christina Dorr

(4) 4-6 Great Moments in Science series. Each book starts with an iconic scientific moment then explores its historic and biographical context, with supporting images, primary sources, curated online sources, and critical thinking questions interspersed throughout. With a consistent format, the books respond to core curriculum guidelines and expand on these scientists' founding stories, although some of the "great moment" hooks work better than others. Reading list, timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Great Moments in Science titles: Charles Darwin Develops the Theory of Evolution, Isaac Newton Discovers Gravity, Louis Pasteur Advances Microbiology, Thomas Edison Invents the Light Bulb, Marie Curie Advances the Study of Radioactivity, and Rachel Carson Sparks the Environmental Movement.

Reviewer: Dorrie Karlin

(4) K-3 Great Idea series. Illustrated by Bill Slavin. This brief, uneven look at Tesla's inventing career begins with his 1884 arrival in America and ends rather abruptly with his 1896 Niagara Falls hydroelectric plant. Although focusing on Tesla's famous conflicts with Edison, his rivalry with Marconi--who was credited with inventing the radio but used Tesla's ideas--is glossed over in an endnote. Droll pen-and-ink drawings capture the era.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(4) K-3 Zoom In on Incredible Inventors series. Providing the most basic information about these inventors' lives and legacies, these six Common Core Standard–aligned books may be useful to report-writing new readers. However, the simplified texts often raise more questions than answers, and some of the photos, paintings, and drawings could use captions or labels for clarity. Lists of quick stats and key dates are appended. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Zoom In on Incredible Inventors titles: Alexander Graham Bell, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington Carver, Henry Ford, Thomas A. Edison, and The Wright Brothers.

Reviewer: Nancy Sheridan

(4) K-3 Super SandCastle: Amazing Inventors & Innovators series. Seven innovative thinkers and their history-making inventions are introduced in uncomplicated biographies for early readers. Each slim overview provides a cursory outline of the subject's life in ample archival photos illuminated by large-print text. A final question closes the gap between history and the present in each volume: "Who do you talk to on the telephone?" "What do you like to take pictures of?" Glos. Review covers these Super SandCastle: Amazing Inventors & Innovators titles: Alexander Graham Bell, George Eastman, Henry Ford, Samuel Morse, Thomas Edison, and The Wright Brothers.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) K-3 Super SandCastle: Amazing Super Simple Inventions series. Each collection of activities explores the engineering principles and design features of historically important technological innovations in transportation, communication, and imaging. After background information about each invention, its principal innovator, and a timeline of development, readers can follow clear directions (illustrated with photos) to create their own prototypes from common items--a string phone and a balloon-powered car, for instance. Glos. Review covers these Super SandCastle: Amazing Super Simple Inventions titles: Super Simple Aircraft Projects, Super Simple Automobile Projects, Super Simple Camera Projects, Super Simple Phonograph Projects, Super Simple Telegraph Projects, and Super Simple Telephone Projects.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt. Two boys who "just had to see how things worked" grow into two of America's great inventors and manufacturers: Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. When Henry, frustrated by repeated failure, meets Thomas, he gets simple yet critical advice: "Keep at it." A lively tale of tenacity and passion, illustrated with watercolor and pencil-and-ink illustrations that reflect the text's energy and high spirits. Timeline. Bib.

Reviewer: Amy Lois Cohn

(3) K-3 Science Biographies series. Each of these readable and engaging texts highlights basic facts about the title scientist's early life and interests before examining the success and significance of each man's key inventions. Well-captioned archival photographs support the texts, enhancing the appeal for young readers. Reading list, timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Science Biographies titles: Thomas Edison and George Washington Carver.

Reviewer: Kristy Pasquariello

(3) 4-6 Illustrated by Brett Helquist. After Manglespawn (monsters that were imprisoned underground) infiltrate the Septemberist Society's headquarters and brainwash Archie's parents, Archie attempts to save them and learns secrets about his origins in the process. Set in an alternate-1875 America where Native Americans and "Yankees" live in peace and harmony but Thomas Edison and "lectricity" are frightening entities, this steampunk trilogy-opener promises action while it challenges readers to rethink history.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) K-3 National Geographic Readers series. These leveled beginning-reader biographies are lively and filled with colorful photographs and illustrations. Energetically designed with many sidebars and graphics, each well-organized volume gives a sense of the time in which the person lived in addition to his or her life and accomplishments. Longer and at the highest reading level, Anne Frank contains an index. Timeline. Glos. Review covers these National Geographic Super Readers titles: Amelia Earhart, George Washington, Thomas Edison, and Anne Frank.

Reviewer: Cyrisse Jaffee

(3) K-3 Thomas Edison's ingenuity is celebrated in this accessible look at his prolific inventions. Spreads with quirky cartoon illustrations pair a page of "present day" items with an "Edison's lab" page introducing his original versions. Simple explanations demonstrate how Edison's experiments, many of which initially failed, were ultimately groundbreaking. End material includes brief bios of Edison's employees and additional "Thomas Trivia." Bib.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(3) 4-6 Victor and his friends continue their madcap efforts to thwart the undead Napoléon Bonaparte. In this installment, reanimated Benjamin Franklin enters into a bizarre face-off with Thomas Edison in an effort to prevent his Infinity Bulbs from turning everyone in range into zombies. Science, ridiculous hijinks, and entertaining drawings combine to make a third engaging adventure.

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) YA Scientific Rivalries and Scandals series. In the years leading up the 1893 World's Fair, a bitter debate waged between Edison and Tesla, who was joined by George Westinghouse, regarding the use of AC and DC current. Competition, underhanded business practices, and public and political manipulation all came into play. Archival photographs, sidebars, and diagrams extend the narrative but contribute to a cramped design. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(3) 4-6 Magic is common but illegal in this book's alternate-history Lower East Side. When Sacha discovers his rare ability to see it, the police put him to use. Soon Sacha is embroiled in an investigation that pits witchcraft against turn-of-the-twentieth-century technology, with an undercurrent of class and ethnic tensions. Suspense along with cheeky historical revision provide plenty of incentive to keep reading.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(2) K-3 Young Thomas Edison worked hard, mixed chemicals, cultivated curiosity, and read a lot of books. These are the seeds of the inventor's success as presented by Brown in this unfussy picture book biography, illustrated with softly glowing watercolors. Readers will appreciate Brown's depiction of an "incredible boyhood," which here means finding one's passions at a young age and pursuing them with gusto. Bib.

Reviewer: Christine M. Heppermann | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2010

(4) 4-6 Thomas Edison IV's family has abundant innovative spirit. When riddles draw Tom into a chase for the secrets of alchemy, the vengeful descendants of rival Nikola Tesla loom large. Despite thin characterization, the breakneck pace and scientific fantasy may possibly pique readers' interest in the inventors' unembellished histories (though how the famously celibate Tesla acquired a direct descendant is a mystery).

Reviewer: Bethany Templeton Klem

(4) YA Profiles in Science series. These well-documented biographies examine the lives of two important scientific thinkers. Though lacking formal education, both had curiosity and dedication, which led the religious Faraday to discover electromagnetic induction and the freethinking Edison to develop new electrical devices, among many other contributions by both. Period photos and some diagrams illustrate the accurate but sometimes abrupt narratives. Timeline, websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Profiles in Science titles: Illuminated Progress: The Story of Thomas Edison and Michael Faraday and the Nature of Electricity.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian