Kid Innovators

Introduction

Do you sometimes think differently than the people around you? Do you like to do things your own way? Do you ever dream of inventing something new, or finding a solution for a big problem?
     If so, then maybe you will become an innovator! Innovators are trailblazers. They think outside the box, tackle tough challenges, pursue their passions, and chase their dreams and in the process, they change our world.
     Some innovators are inventors: they tinker, experiment, and design new things. Others combine inventions that already exist or use current technology in original ways. Some innovators are entrepreneurs, bringing new products to millions of people around the world. And some transform and revolutionize the fields they work in by challenging old ways of doing things or approaching problems in a different way.
     The innovators in this book started out as inquisitive kids. They were full of questions and hungry for knowledge. Grace Hopper was so curious about how alarm clocks worked that she took apart all seven of the ones in her home. Most of these innovators read voraciously as children: Elon Musk and Bill Gates both read encyclopedias from A to Z!
     Many of the things we take for granted in our daily lives exist because of innovators. But people don t always welcome change, and innovation is often met with skepticism and even scorn. Experts predicted that cell phones would never replace wired phones. The idea that we might send objects into space was considered to be absurd. And flight was seen as preposterous:  Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible, one famous scientist stated confidently only eight years before the Wright brothers achieved their first flight. 
     Innovators are people who make

Table of Contents

PART 1 Tech Revolution
GRACE HOPPER: The Grand Lady of Software
STEVE JOBS: Love What You Do
BILL GATES: I m Thinking!
RESHMA SAUJANI: Embracing Failure

PART 2 Seas, Skies, and Outer Space
JACQUES COUSTEAU: Breathing Underwater
WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT: The Brothers Who Wanted to Fly
WILLIAM KAMKWAMBA: Electric Wind
ELON MUSK: Electric Cars and Rockets to Mars

PART 3 Cracking Codes and Saving Lives
ALAN TURING: Code-Breaking Hero of World War II
HEDY LAMARR: A Double Life
JONAS SALK: An Instinct to Improve Our World
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: The Invention of Modern Nursing

PART 4 Trailblazers
MARIA MONTESSORI: Rethinking Education
MADAM C. J. WALKER: Craving the Beautiful
WALT DISNEY: Creating Happiness
ALVIN AILEY: All That Was Inside You

Robin Stevenson is an award-winning author of thirty books for kids and teens. Her writing has been translated into a number of languages and published in more than a dozen countries. She lives with her family on the west coast of Canada.

Allison Steinfeld obtained a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She loves to create fun and playful work that can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Telling the true stories of famous people s childhoods, this book inspires kids to think big and humanizes historical figures in a new and fresh way. CNN Underscored

These reads aren t just educational, they re inspiring they remind us all that we re never too young to start dreaming! Plus they re a great resource for school projects! YAYOMG.com

In accessible but never patronizing prose, Stevenson sketches the stories of her subjects childhoods, deftly setting the scene for each one and providing informative details, engaging quotes, and sometimes humorous anecdotes. Mombian

Praise for the Kid Legends series:
Engaging and empowering. YAYOMG.com, on Kid Activists by Robin Stevenson

Kids will be drawn in. Chicago Parent, on Kid Activists by Robin Stevenson
 
The vivid details of each activist's story, combined with vibrant illustrations, demonstrate that every civil rights hero and popular firebrand started out as children, just like the rest of us. School Library Journal, on Kid Activists by Robin Stevenson

A great way to encourage kids who already love science to pursue their interests as well as to show kids who are not motivated by traditional schooling that there are many paths to greatness. American Scientist Magazine, on Kid Scientists by David Stabler
 
For your budding astrophysicist, inventor, doctor, environmentalist, or mathematician, Kid Scientists will open her eyes with mini-bios of interesting and accomplished people. Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm Sez, on Kid Scientists by David Stabler
 
Outstanding... Inspiring and entertaining. Booklist, starred review, on Kid Athletes by David Stabler
 
A heartening reminder that 17 unconventional greats not to mention all the rest started out as children too. Kirkus Reviews, on Kid Artists by David Stabler
 
Just like history class, only hilarious. Tim Federle, author of Better Nate Than Ever, on Kid Presidents by David Stabler
 
Full