The Great Idea Series is a wonderful set of books for pre-school+ age kids. I have enjoyed reading these with my five-year-old who likes engineering, building, and tinkering. In this book about Elisha Otis who more or less invented the modern elevator we learned about Otis' life and his invention.

I appreciate each book starts with a short poem. This is a nice way to introduce poetry to children who may not be inclined to read a whole poetry book.

Thus far the series does a great job on focusing on women and people of color. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the series and hope they continue to grow this series. ( )

Biographies in children's libraries can be rather dry and uninteresting to children. This book was neither. It captured my children's attention through the unique cover design, detailed illustrations, and age-appropriate text... and they learned something too! ( )

This is a well written story about an inventor for children. The illustrations are superb, and the story gives a gimps into the history of technology in the early 20th century when immigrants like this elevator inventor were coming to America to start over. Most immigrants to this country like Otis started with nothing and built a new life here. The author does a good job portraying this example of that. ( )

This is a short picture book biography of Elisha Otis, the inventor of the elevator. An entertaining and engaging story for children learning about inventions. The brief text and large pictures on each page make it accessible for upper elementary aged students. It would be great for children who are curious about inventions or for a school library. The book jacket on this review copy also turns into a poster for the series of invention books. Very useful in a school or classroom! ( )

This picture book provides an introduction to Elisha Otis, famed elevator inventor. When Elisha was small, lifts helped raise the hay to the barn at his farm... but sometimes the rope would break to disastrous results. When he grew up, he realized that lifts could help move freight -- but only if there was no chance everything would come crashing down. He developed a safety break that went on to revolutionize the world -- making not only people-moving elevators possible, but also skyscrapers.

Otis's life and contributions are told in an appealing story-like form. However, the author uses dialogue in such a way that I could not tell if it was from primary sources or a fictionalized rendering of events. Unfortunately, there is no back matter to clear up the puzzle. There is, however, an odd poem at the beginning of the book that feels just thrown in there. Despite these flaws, this is an interesting and engaging book with appealing illustrations. I would recommend it as a starting point for kids wanting to know more about Elisha Otis, or about inventor's lives -- I just wish it had provided more information. ( )