Iamasahm
Member
I am looking at getting two books: The Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous by Sarah Bolton, and The Story of Inventions by Michael J. McHugh
I have seen them on amazon and ebay and would like to get them. But have not had them in my hands. Do you know anything about them? Thanks Misty
Bookworm
Member
We've had The Story of Inventions. It was OK, but the boys found it rather dry. They did not love it.
Esby
Member
We're using The Story of Inventions. Bookworm is right - it's not the most compelling book. My approach is to read one small section of a chapter at a time.
We have our Book of Centuries handy when we read the book and that has helped make the information come alive. It's very interesting to see what was happening in history when certain inventions were made. My DD isn't particularly interested in machines and inventions, so reading a biography of the inventor captures her interest much more than the machines themselves.
Occassionally we'll read another biography about an inventor in The Story of Inventors. I doubt my DD would've been interested in some of these inventors or their inventions without the introduction of reading The Story of Inventions. And, when an invention, inventor, or particular scenario is mentioned in another of our readings...wow, the connections are such fun to make!
It's not the most exciting book and your kids are unlucky to request it as the first book to read each day, but some chapters are more interesting than others. My DD and I like the personal stories about the inventors. The technical sections about the machines don't interest her, but the sections are short and are easy to take one at a time. And...my DD likes the comprehension questions at the end of each chapter. Go figure.
Rachel
Member
How about Great Inventors and Their Inventionsby Frank P. Bachman;
The Secret of Everyday Thingsby Jean Henri Fabre
and some selections from the Immortals of Science Series-http://www.valerieslivingbooks.info/immortals.htm
Rachel
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