Invent Something of Your Own!

Invent something of your own!

Timeless Thomas

Written & Illustrated by Gene Barretta

Published by Scholastic 2012

                                                         36 Pages

                                                Biography

            “Never judge a book by its cover.” The quote is so true but sometimes as readers it is so much easier to pick a book if the cover looks interesting.  The cover of Timeless Thomas definitely caught my attention. Not only is there a cute old man on the cover but also pictures of other things that give the readers a hint of what the story may be about. Timeless Thomas is a story about Thomas Edison’s life. He was a great inventor that had multiple successful inventions. He began as a young boy inventing things and soon had his own laboratory to work in. Even though you may not realize it we still use many of his inventions today. This book goes through all of his inventions and even shows you what we use today that he invented. The story takes you through time all the way from 1859 to 1918.

            The illustrations in Timeless Thomas are very eye catching. Barretta uses very vibrant colors on every page. To me this was very interesting because of the time period Edison’s life took place. The pictures are painted with watercolors on Arches cold press paper. His paintings in the story are very detailed much like many of Thomas Edison’s inventions. Another aspect of the paintings that caught my eye was the faces on the characters. They show so much thought and it makes you wonder what they are actually thinking or what they would be thinking if they could tell you.

            This book would be great for student in first through fifth grade. The book Timeless Thomas could be used many different ways in a classroom. It would be really good to teach about timelines and have the students make a timeline of Thomas Edison’s inventions. There is a timeline in the back of the book they could use for a reference. The students could also do a writing prompt and write about which invention they use the most that Edison discovered. A science project or activity would also be good to do after reading this book.  You could have the students make electricity by simply having them rub a balloon on their hair.