School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-8-No school or public library should be without this entire series which combines the best of education and entertainment in a technically flawless presentation. Although developed for the intermediate-middle school grades, its appeal and usefulness extends through high school and into the general adult population. What distinguishes these videos from others on the same subject is that not only are they factual biographies, but they have an underlying theme of perseverance in the face of adversity, and of collaboration with other scientists. They stress the interaction and exchange of ideas that lead to new inventions. The script writers obviously researched their material in great depth because the videos are filled with interesting facts about the personality and activities of the inventors presented in an interesting manner. Students learn that Bell managed to file his patent for the telephone just two hours before his competitor, and that he spent most of the rest of his life in court defending that patent. Ford's wife interrupted her Christmas Eve dinner preparations to assist Henry with his first gasoline engine, and nearly tore the kitchen countertop apart in the process. It is this attention to interesting detail that will keep the interest of students. Each video opens with a description of life before this inventor's activities. A costumed re-enactor helps to narrate the video, and adds much to the presentation by inserting the inventors own words and ideas into the script. Extensive use is made of each inventor's drawings, writings, and photographs, as well as sketches, photographs, and film clips of the era. The series would be worth the purchase price just for the early movie clips of turn-of-the-century street scenes, horrific dirt road quagmires, and early assembly lines. These fragments of old silent movies convey a sense of life as it was in times past that can never come merely from text and pictures. These inventors are transformed into flesh and blood characters who experienced frustration and criticism before their inventions were accepted by the public. This superb series can be utilized not only in history classes, but in vocational preparation and character education classes in all grade levels. It should be on the top of every librarian's must purchase list.-Linda Skeele, Western Elementary School, Georgetown, KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.