electricity

Review: Electrical Wizard by Elizabeth Rusch

| Tasha

electrical wizard

Electrical Wizard: How Nikola Tesla Lit Up the World by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Oliver Dominguez

Nikola Tesla was born in Serbia during a lightning storm, something that would portend his future interest in electricity.  At a young age, Tesla became fascinated by the invisible energy everywhere around him, in the water, the wind and the insect that flew.  In college Tesla grew interested in alternating current though his professor thought it was impossible.  Tesla studied and invented and eventually figured out how to make alternating current work, but he needed help.  He headed to America to meet with Thomas Edison, someone he knew would be interested.  But Edison was not, insisting that direct current was the only electricity he would work with.  Soon Tesla and Edison were rivals in the “war of the currents.”  This first picture book biography will introduce young readers to one of the great scientific inventors of all time and his greatest rival too.

Rusch tells the compelling story of Tesla and his inventions.  She shows Tesla as a complicated person, eager to pursue his own ideas and willing to stand up for them in the face of great opposition.  She also tells the story of the rivalry of the two men in a very engaging way and Tesla’s ultimate victory and how he reached it.  Her writing is engaging, detailed and impressive.

Dominguez’s illustrations are filled with period details that help ground this picture book directly in the time in which it is set.  Scientific instruments are often in the forefront of the images, showing their structures in detail.  This is a true celebration of the science of invention.

An electric read, this book shines light on a great man.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Candlewick Press.

Review: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

| Tasha

boy who harnessed the wind

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

This picture book version of the nonfiction book manages to translate the story of William Kamkwamba with clarity and inspiration.  When a drought hit his village in Malawi in 2001 and 2002, 14-year-old William and his family were in real danger of starving.  William had always through about machines and even after he was forced to leave school due to the drought, he kept reading books about them.  He thought about what could be done with a windmill in his village, bringing light and water.  So he hunted through the junk yard and found pieces to use.  Built entirely out of scraps, his first windmill and its electric wind brought electricity to the valley.   The afterword gives more details about William’s story and how it took him longer years to bring his dream of pumping water to fruition. This inspirational story speaks to the inventor, the doer, and the dreamer in all of us.

The writing here is lovely.  The imagery is impressive, such as comparing the windmill to a “clumsy giraffe” and giving William’s sorrow at having to leave school a physical sense: “alone with the monster in his belly and the lump in his throat.”  The book carefully captures what life in Malawi was like and what little could be done to make a difference before transforming into a book where dreams create change.  

Zunon’s illustrations are exquisite.  They are a captivating mix of painting and collage.  Filled with texture, the textiles of the clothing come to life and the objects have weight and feel.  The most impressive are the faces of the people, filled with light.  The faces become the place your eyes go first, making the message of the book just that much stronger in a subtle but powerful way.

A luminous picture book version of a compelling real-life story, this book should inspire others to not only dream but to make those dreams happen.  Appropriate for ages 7-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Dial Books for Young Readers.