Customer Reviews

Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor

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An elementary librarian recommended this book to me and I bought it for my elementary school as well. Stories details encourage students to think about life of a young woman during the industrial age as well as being an inventor. Multiple lessons can be off shoots from reading this book. Book could be read alone by 4-5 graders but read aloud to younger grades.

Emily Arnold McCully's Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became An Inventor is based on the true story of a female inventor around the turn of the century, but reads like fiction and thus is featured here. Mattie loves to make things at an early age and loves to invent whenever a challenge comes up - but she lives during a time when women are believed to be unable to understand mechanical concepts. Her battle for recognition brought her all the way to the patent office and makes for a lively story of one girl's determination to succeed against all gender odds.

I picked up this book at the library when I went to check out some books about famous inventors. We came home with "Neo Leo," "Now & Ben," "Odd Boy Out," and this one, "Marvelous Mattie." I hadn't heard of Margaret Knight before, but I was pleased to find a book about a female inventor. What an inspiring story! Mattie was marvelous indeed--it took great courage, passion, and perseverance for her to even pursue her interests as an inventor in that era, much less to go to court to claim ownership over the design of her paper bag machine. Among these titles, THIS is the one that my son (almost five) asks me to read repeatedly, and it motivated him to start his own notebook of inventions!

The word "marvelous" seems entirely too strong to use about the subject of this short children's biography, Margaret Knight. Knight was an early inventor, most well known for making square bottomed paper bags. Other than her diligence and persistence, Knight seemed to be a perfectly ordinary person and not worthy of a book.

I would, however, be happy to use the word "marvelous" about the writing in this biography. Marvelous. Yes, marvelous.

This is definitely geared toward the older picture book audience, though I'm sure visual and/or inventor oriented children will love pouring over the illustrations and diagrams of Mattie's inventions.

I didn't know anything about Marvelous Mattie prior to reading this book, and now feel I must thank her every time I use a paper bag! :)
Yes, this story is about inventing, but it's also about perseverance, self-reliance, and there's a little women's rights as well given the era Mattie Knight grew up in.

While I'm not sure the illustrations were exactly my style, I do think they helped get a sense for the era, and the diagrams along the bottom of the pages were fantastic!

Yes, there were certain plot points that I wanted more explanation of, but overall I enjoyed the book. Definitely a great inventor book, but also a great biography!

You've probably never heard of Margaret E. Knight before. And yet you are intimately familiar with something she invented, a device used every day.

Mattie invented a machine to make paper bags that would stand up on their own.

What, you were hoping for something a little more exciting? More... worthwhile, perhaps? You want to know what the heck kinda invention is THAT? It's a USEFUL invention, is what it is, and it had the potential to make people rich... which is probably why a man tried to steal it from her before it could be patented, assuming everybody would believe him when he said a woman couldn't possibly understand the complexity of the machine.

She was, in fact, the first woman awarded a US patent, and she invented several other things that the book doesn't really touch on.

The book is well-enough written, and the story is a simple and fairly useful one. If nothing else, you can read it during Women's History Month and move off the treadmill of the same three or four tired old names.

This non-fiction book sites a wonderful example of how a young girl can be successful in an arena that was dominated by men during her time. It also shows children the importance of recording work they do and documenting failures as well as successes. As a teacher, I stressed the need for my students to record their findings, illustrate their work and write down their thoughts on what to do next. It is a great "read aloud" book for elementary science classes.

Marvelous Mattie is the story of Margaret Knight, who was the first woman to be issued a U.S. patent for her invention of the flat-bottomed paper bag machine. And it was issued in 1871, a period when women's roles were narrow and prescribed.

Born into a poor family, Mattie was always curious as to how things worked. Sketching away in her notebook, she designed and built kites that flew higher and sleds that slid faster. She even made her mother a foot warmer. At the age of twelve, Mattie went to work in a mill. After a young girl was practically killed in front of her eyes, she realized how dangerous it was and invented a safety device that saved workers from injury and death.

Later, she went to work in a paper bag factory. She saw that the quality of the bags was poor (they didn't stand upright so the grocer had to use one hand to hold them open and they often split when filled with bulky items). So Mattie went to work on a design for a better bag. For two years she worked on her idea, sketching away and making paper bag cut-outs of her machine. She finally built a prototype out of wood. Just as she was getting ready to apply for a patent she heard that someone had stolen her idea. She went to court to prove it was her design, and she eventually won.

Marvelous Mattie is a good read aloud book for a first, second or third grader. The watercolor-and-ink drawings are a nice fit with the Industrial Age time period. Plus, an added bonus is that the book features some of her actual drawings from the paper bag patent.

A book like this will open up kids' eyes to all the inventions surrounding them on a day to day basis. Have them examine a paper bag closely so they can see everything that went into the design. Mattie's invention is still used today in making paper bags.

Middle elementary school kids will find this book a painless way to learn about someone of historical significance. Any child looking for a reference book about an inventor or a woman with historical significance will find this book entertaining.