The Kid Who Invented the Popsicle: And Other Surprising Stories about Inventions (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-8. This collection includes 114 inventions and the amusing, sometimes amazing stories behind them. Arranged alphabetically from "animal crackers" to "zipper," the inventions range from ancient times (dice have been around for 40,000 years) to recent discoveries such as bar code scanners and Gatorade. Though some major technological advances are included (submarines and robots), most of the inventions are less significant (miniature golf, Tinker Toys, and Fig Newtons). Unfortunately, the format is not particularly exciting. Each invention gets one page, with varying amounts of information. There are two simple sentences about drinking straws opposite a four paragraph treatment of Dr. Pepper. The alphabetical arrangement means that similar inventions are not grouped together. Instead of reading about potato chips and ice cream consecutively, "ice-cream cone" is followed by "jigsaw puzzle." This book suffers in comparison to Charlotte Jones's excellent Mistakes That Worked (Doubleday, 1994) and Accidents May Happen (Delacorte, 1996), both of which feature livelier texts, thematically grouped inventions, and amusing illustrations. Where Wulffson's title serves as a list of interesting inventions, Jones's titles convey cohesive ideas about the importance of accidental discoveries.?Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library, OR
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 3^-6. Beginning with animal crackers and ending with the zipper, this book alphabetically lists a number of "inventions" and briefly describes how they came into being. Among the items noted are blue jeans, doughnuts, matches, miniature golf, and Scrabble. The boldly colored dust jacket, featuring a popsicle (discovered by a boy who left his soda pop mix and water out in the cold overnight), will draw readers; but oddly, there are no illustrations inside, just a paragraph or so of text per page. Interesting for browsers. Ilene Cooper --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141302046
• ISBN-13: 978-0141302041
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #36,518 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Book of Interest, July 16, 2006

By	R. Combs "sciencerulz" (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I purchased this book to read portions of it to my class. The reality of new ideas is that it takes hard work and lots of practice. Many of the ideas came from the result of what was viewed as a "mistake" by the inventor. The process of invention is as important as the product. This is an important concept to share with young students who will only try to get the "right" answer, they have to be taught to undetake challenges and see mistakes as the opportunity to learn. These types of stories inspire them to take chances.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fun facts, February 18, 2008

By	reader mother (TN United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Kid Who Invented The Popsicle (School & Library Binding)

we discovered this & other invention history bks by the same author when my 8 1/2 yr old 3rd grade daughter was assigned a book report on an "informational" bk; it was just right; the blurbs are short but informative; kids recognize just about every product & learn about those they don't know; we had fun arranging & photographing a collage display of as many items from the bk that we had around the house - over 1/2 the 100+; she picked just a few to include in her oral report

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book for the child with visions of being an inventor, May 15, 2009

By	Charles Ashbacher "([e-mail])" (Marion, Iowa United States([e-mail])) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Kid Who Invented the Popsicle: And Other Surprising Stories About Inventions (Hardcover)

The historical record regarding the invention of new products is generally an interesting one because so many were a quick burst of inspiration or a happy accident. For example, the Popsicle was "invented" when eleven-year-old Frank Epperson accidentally left a mixture of water and soda pop mix on his back porch. He also left the stirring stick in the mixture so when he recovered it the next day he discovered that he had something that was convenient and tasted good.
Many of the other inventions described in this book have a similar story, one that will interest the child of curious bent. Like many of the friends of my youth, I fancied myself becoming an inventor that would create new and useful things. As the descriptions in this book make clear, that is not an altogether unreasonable hope.