FROM HERE TO THERE

These innovations in transportation should inspire readers to go far.

Sure, readers may know about Henry Ford or Katherine Johnson, but have they heard about Raye Montague and her computer-designed guided-missile frigate? What about Bertha Benz and her fateful test-drive of her husband’s invention? Or what inspired Herbert Everest and Harry Jennings to redesign wheelchairs? They will, in this nonfiction tribute to 12 inventors and innovators who changed the ways human travel, influencing nine different forms of travel, from hot air balloons to rocket ships. The text is supported by full-color cartoon illustrations that enhance the text. Additional facts appear on the bottoms of various pages, supplementing the narrative without distracting from the main text. While the stars of the book (all White except for Montague, a Black woman) are clearly the inventors and innovators, educators will also delight in the hefty amount of supplemental backmatter. Source notes guide readers through quotes included, and a selected bibliography offers both print and web-accessible fodder for curious readers hoping to learn more about each inventor. Historical illustrations in the bibliography welcome readers to explore. A timeline that runs across the endpapers helps anchor the subjects and their inventions in history.

Will inspire as it educates.