Review of The History of the Computer, by Rachel Ignotofsky

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Science, Starred Review 0

The History of the Computer

People, Inventions, and Technology That Changed Our World

by Rachel Ignotofsky

Ten Speed Press, 2022. 128 pages.
Review written September 24, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

This is the second one of Rachel Ignotofsky’s books I’ve read, and I’m a fan. Both are compilations of a large amount of information in a visual way that doesn’t overwhelm you.

The spreads in this book are packed, but the information is compacted into panel-like segments. The book is not a graphic novel, but it borrows some graphic elements, sometimes sidebars, sometimmes diagrams, plenty of pictures, and even some speech bubbles. Even large paragraphs are given segments with headings, so you can read one section at a time.

The only problem with the graphic-novel-like format was that my first impression was that I could read it quickly. No, this book is packed with information, and it takes lots of time to absorb it. The advantage to the format, though, is that you can read a section or a spread at a time and easily pick it up later. I ended up picking this book up for multiple short stretches – and that was the perfect way to read it, with my interest captured every time.

And the information was so interesting. I worked as a computer programmer for my university as a college student in the 1980s, and my family was one of the first I knew of to have a home computer, a TRS-80. Oh, and my Dad brought home an old-fashioned modem in the 1970s. So – I’ve lived through a lot of the history of the computer, and it was very interesting to read about the bigger picture and many of the people behind different innovations – going far beyond Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.

Besides a straightforward history, the book also describes what’s inside a computer and goes back and looks at ancient counting systems and inventions like the abacus. The more modern chapters went from “Computers as Creative Tool, 1980-1989” to “The World Wide Web, 1990-2005” to “The All-in-One Device, 2006-Now.”

My only hope for this book is that it will get many updates. Although the part on “the future” only takes up a few pages, already in 2024 it feels like the prevalence of virtual meetings should be mentioned, as well as Chat GPT. But everything historical is very thorough, and presented in a fascinating way.

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tenspeed.com

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Review of Crossing on Time, by David Macaulay

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Crossing on Time

Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to the New World

by David Macaulay

Roaring Brook Press, 2019. 128 pages.
Review written May 6, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

This new large-format David Macaulay book is amazing. Full of his detailed illustrations, it tells the story of steam travel, combined with his own story of crossing the Atlantic and moving to America aboard what was then the fastest ocean liner in the world.

This story of his own family making the trip when he was ten years old gives a deeply personal touch to a book packed with historical facts.

After the short introduction of his family setting out to move to America, where he planned to see the Empire State Building, then the tallest building in the world, the book tells us the history of steam power. And since this is a David Macauley book, along every step of the way we get diagrams explaining precisely how the various steam engines worked. We can appreciate each new innovation and how it expanded on earlier ideas.

Then we get into steamships, and the race to build faster and faster ships to cross the Atlantic. We see all the ships that won the Blue Riband – an award for the ship with the fastest time crossing the Atlantic in the westward direction. We also hear about a shipbuilder who dreamed of winning that award.

And then we shift to that shipbuilder finally getting a chance to build an enormous ocean liner, the em> United States that would indeed win the Blue Riband. There is an incredible fold-out cross-section of United States that spreads out to six pages long and has 100 items detailed in the diagram.

The United States was the very ship that took young David Macauley and his family from England to America, so the book finishes bringing us back to his story. I especially like the paintings from their voyage and the photographs in the notes in the back.

This wonderful book is packed with information and leaves you with warm feelings about the curious kid who grew up to create amazing books.

mackids.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

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Review of The Woman They Could Not Silence, by Kate Moore

Audiobooks, History, Nonfiction Review, True Stories 0

The Woman They Could Not Silence

One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear

by Kate Moore
read by the Author

Blackstone Publishing, 2021. 14 hours, 37 minutes.
Review written August 1, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.

This book is both fascinating and horrifying. It’s the story of Elizabeth Packard, whose husband had her locked up in an insane asylum for three years beginning in 1860. It’s about her fight for her freedom, for custody of her children, and ultimately to reform laws and the treatment of the “insane.”

The story was hard to listen to, because Elizabeth was locked up basically because she developed religious views that disagreed with her pastor husband. And she was too vocal about them. Everything he did was completely legal, and he was able to have her committed to an asylum on his say-so. Even more horrifying was the later corroboration from the superintendent of the facility that he was convinced she was insane, because he based that assurance completely on her opinions, which he did not agree with.

Or another example of her obvious insanity was that she was angry with her husband – the same man who’d put her in the insane asylum when she was completely sane. Because it’s not “womanly” to hate your husband.

The book also told about the horrors of the asylum. At first, Elizabeth was in the best ward, but as punishment for speaking up, she got moved to a much worse situation and witnessed much abuse and many horrible things. Any letters she received or sent were confiscated. And she never had any idea how long she would be incarcerated.

Eventually, she was able to get a trial. The way the doctors used her ideas as proof that she was insane was chilling to me. It reminded me of present-day people telling transgender folks they are “confused” – indeed the book included a postscript about modern women being called insane or crazy for their political views.

After she was free, Elizabeth Packard went on to work to change the laws – so that women couldn’t be incarcerated on the word of their husbands, so that insane asylums had to be independently inspected, and many other issues. She was free, but she used her powerful voice to help the many others she’d seen who had been victims of the current system.

Not realizing the narrator was the author, I wondered why they picked a narrator with a British accent, but as usual I very much enjoyed listening to that accent. With the one bothersome detail that she didn’t pronounce “Packard” the way Americans do, putting more of an emphasis on the second syllable. But that was easily overlooked, as I enjoyed everything else about her reading. The book was obviously scrupulously researched – using Elizabeth’s own writings and other contemporary writings and reports to put together the whole story.

It was wonderful to learn about this true American hero, as well as sobering to learn the situation women could find themselves in only 160 years ago.

kate-moore.com

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Review of Jack Knight’s Brave Flight, by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Stacy Innerst

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Jack Knight’s Brave Flight

How One Gutsy Pilot Saved the U.S. Air Mail Service

by Jill Esbaum
illustrated by Stacy Innerst

Calkins Creek (Astra Books for Young Readers), 2022. 44 pages.
Review written August 15, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Thanks to Betsy Bird and her blog for pointing out this book of true adventure hidden behind a brown cover.

This picture book tells the story of Jack Knight, who flew in an open cockpit through a blizzard on little sleep to single-handedly win the approval of Congress to give the post office the funds to continue air mail service.

Here’s the set-up. It’s February 22, 1921. First we’re told that Jack recently survived a crash into a snowy mountainside and has a broken nose to show for it.

Those crashes are why America’s lawmakers want to end air mail. Flying is too dangerous, they say, and replacing planes costs too much. Moving mail by train is safer and cheaper.

But air mail officials — and pilots — know planes can move mail faster than trains. Today and tonight will prove it. Pilots are taking turns short-hopping four planes across the country, two flying east, two flying west. At least one must get through, or air mail is doomed.

Well, it was supposed to be four planes, two east and two west — but it ends up being all up to Jack. With blizzard conditions and little sleep and needing to do an additional leg of the trip — one he’d never flown before.

It’s all made dramatic and exciting for the reader, with pictures filling every inch of the pages.

An Author’s Note at the back includes a photograph of Jack Knight and a timeline of the history of the U. S. Mail. Who knew that history was so interesting?

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stacyinnerst.com
calkinscreekbooks.com

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Review of Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island, by Jennifer Thermes

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Manhattan

Mapping the Story of an Island

by Jennifer Thermes

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2019. 64 pages.
Review written January 28, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

This book is fascinating! I’m sorry that I didn’t discover it until I was pulling it from the library shelves to take off the New sticker. Usually I do that task rather mindlessly, but this book called out to me to open it, and then I couldn’t put it away until I’d pored over the fascinating details.

It’s a large-format book that uses maps to tell the history of the island of Manhattan. It talks about how it was formed and then about the Lenape living on Mannahatta for thousands of years.

Then it tells about the history of the island (with maps) through time periods. The Dutch put a town on the island, followed by the British, who occupied the city during the American Revolution. The commissioners planned the grid of streets in 1811. Further events resulted in changes, including the Great Fire of 1835, which led to the development of Central Park, and the Great Blizzard of 1888, which led to the development of the subway. It also mentions the importance of the slave trade to the city and slave labor to build the city. Free African Americans eventually moved outside the city to Seneca Village — and that land was taken from them for a low price to build Central Park.

We read about the importance of immigration to the island and the Gilded Age of 1870 to 1900, where millionaires lived on Fifth Avenue, while immigrants lived in poverty in tenements downtown. We learn about the building of subways and bridges and skyscrapers, which all changed the look of the city. And of course, it finishes up with Manhattan today — though I was surprised by a page before that mentioning Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and how the subways were flooded. The new threat to Manhattan is rising sea levels. As the author states, “Protecting it from water will be this century’s greatest challenge.”

And after all these big, fascinating pages of details, there’s a complete timeline in the back, next to a page of select sources.

I’ve been to New York City a few times, which helped give me context. If I ever get the chance to go again, rereading this book would be a wonderful way to prepare.

jenniferthermes.com
abramsyoungreaders.com

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Review of Why Longfellow Lied, by Jeff Lantos

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Why Longfellow Lied

The Truth About Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride

by Jeff Lantos

Charlesbridge, 2021. 134 pages.
Review written January 7, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

My plan was to read this book a little bit at a time, but once I started, it was hard to stop! It takes Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride” stanza by stanza and tells us what really happened on that fateful night that the Revolutionary War began.

But Longfellow made it a poem about one hero, Paul Revere, when actually a long list of people were involved in warning the colonists. So the author also looks at the question of why Longfellow took so much poetic license? What was he trying to accomplish with this poem? (Hint: It was written just before the Civil War began.)

Now, kids today may not be familiar with the famous poem. The author takes care of that by printing it at the front of the book. And the words do have a ring to them. Then he takes the poem a little at a time and tells us what actually happened that night, from revealing the actual mastermind behind the mission to telling us about Paul Revere’s capture before he ever got to Concord.

It turns out that was a momentous and exciting night in American history. The book is filled with plenty of paintings, maps, sidebars, engravings, photographs, and other artefacts. I now have a much better understanding of April 18-19, 1775, than I ever got in History class. Super interesting and informative. And it will help kids think critically about history.

charlesbridge.com

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Review of Small Shoes, Great Strides, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by Alex Bostic

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

Small Shoes, Great Strides

How Three Brave Girls Opened Doors to School Equality

by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
illustrated by Alex Bostic

Carolrhoda Books, 2024. 44 pages.
Review written June 5, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

You’ve probably heard of Ruby Bridges. It turns out that first graders Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne, were ten minutes ahead of Ruby integrating a previously all-white school in a different part of New Orleans.

This lovely book tells their story. It’s in picture book format, with large artwork on each spread, but there’s also a lot of text on each spread, so the target audience is upper elementary school kids who can handle that much reading. There are ten pages of back matter, giving more to the story.

This book leads off with telling how the girls were taught in a classroom with paper over the windows and had to have recess and lunch indoors. Federal marshals escorted them to school and even to the bathroom.

The book also covers the threats they faced even at home and the constant police presence. We can all be so thankful that they and their families saw it through. Already the next year, they were able to take the paper down from the windows.

I have to admit, though, that I was saddened by the pages in the back matter describing what school was like for them from third grade on in an integrated school. No longer protected by federal marshals, students and even teachers were often cruel. But it still doesn’t diminish the powerful thing they accomplished as first graders and the lasting effects.

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alexbostic.com
lernerbooks.com

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Review of Stamped (for Kids), by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul

Audiobooks, Children's Nonfiction Review, Current Issues, History 0

Stamped

(For Kids)

Racism, Antiracism, and You

by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul
read by Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem Jackson

Hachette Audio, 2021. 2 hours, 22 minutes on 2 CDs.
Review written April 13, 2022, from a library audiobook
Starred Review

This is now the third iteration of this book, and the third I’ve read or listened to. First, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi wrote a big and long and scholarly book for adults called Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Then Jason Reynolds “remixed” that content into a book for teens, called Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. That was the first version I listened to. It was accessible and easy to understand, but had some powerful and thought-provoking content.

Now they’ve gone another step, and Sonja Cherry-Paul has adapted the content from Jason Reynolds’ book into an even shorter version that is easy for kids to understand. I like the kid narrator who reads the audiobook, making it feel like a kid talking with his friends.

I was happy to refresh my memory of these ideas. The authors give the history of racist ideas in America. They explain segregationalists, who believe Black people are inferior, assimilationists, who believe Black people can be good people if they work at it, and antiracists who believe that Black people are human and valuable and just as worthy as anyone else.

I also appreciate the explanation that most people aren’t just one thing all the time. They explain why ideas like the “Talented Tenth” are assimilationist, even when those putting forward the ideas are trying to be helpful. Even in this short and simple adaptation, we’ve got complex concepts clearly explained.

And make no mistake about it — this is a book about fairness and caring and seeing past discrimination. Kids who listen to this audiobook or read this book will be able to spot policies that treat any one class of people as inferior to others. Here’s to a new generation of antiracists!

jasonwritesbooks.com
ibramxkendi.com
Downpour.com

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Review of My Incredible India, by Jasbinder Bilan, illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti

Children's Nonfiction Review, History 0

My Incredible India

by Jasbinder Bilan
illustrated by Nina Chakrabarti

Candlewick Press, 2023. First published in the United Kingdom in 2022. 72 pages.
Review written May 20, 2024, from a library book.

This book reminds me of Africa, Amazing Africa, by Atinuke and Mouni Feddag. This one, too, is a big, beautiful, oversized picture book offering an in-depth look at a region of the world I hadn’t known a lot about. It, too, offers a look at personal things people love about India.

This book is framed as a visit of a child with her grandmother, who shows her wonderful things from India out of a large wooden chest. And each thing is associated with a different place in India. There’s a map at the front locating all the places talked about. Each place is located as to which of India’s twenty-eight states or eight union territories it’s found in. In between some of the spreads, which are all covered with illustrations as well as facts, there are spreads about more general topics such as wildlife, religious festivals, food, sports, crafts, and the like. A timeline of the history of India is at the back, along with an index and a list of websites to find out more.

I took it slowly when I read it, a few spreads at a time, and learned fascinating things about India.

Friday nights are exciting nights: that’s when I sleep over at Nanijee’s. She makes me spiced milky chai sprinkled with cinnamon. I take a small sip and snuggle into the folds of her chunni. She smiles and creaks open the trunk. It smells sweet, like the heart of a tree.

She takes out one object and tells me all about it — which state it’s from, why she loves it so much, and what makes it unique.

Let this author and artist share their love of India with you.

jasbinderbilan.co.uk

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Review of She’s on the Money, by Andrea Hall, illustrated by Li Zhang

Children's Nonfiction Review, History, Starred Review 0

She’s on the Money

by Andrea Hall
illustrated by Li Zhang

Albert Whitman & Company, 2021. 32 pages.
Review written December 1, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

What a fun idea! This picture book gives short biographies of 15 women who appear or have appeared on currency somewhere in the world. Each woman gets a spread, with a page at the back for Britannia and a page for Lady Liberty.

Some of the women are well-known, such as the first one presented, Cleopatra. Others I’d never heard of, such as the last set presented, the Mirabal Sisters of the Dominican Republic. The women are presented in the order of the year they were born.

There are more from America than anywhere else, but that’s just two – Sacagawea and Helen Keller (who was on the Alabama quarter) – well, you may also count “Lady Liberty” at the back. I like the wide range of countries represented.

Also fun is the close look at the currency where the women are portrayed – I’ve long said that other countries have much more interesting money and it shows the colorful bills and the symbolism next to the woman’s portrait.

A fascinating book. You can learn both about distinguished women and what money looks like in other countries. Now, I know they didn’t present every woman who’s ever been on currency, because Queen Elizabeth wasn’t mentioned – but I do wish the book were fatter with more examples, and I fear that’s because there aren’t too many more examples out there. There is a note in the back about plans to put Harriet Tubman on the United States twenty dollar bill. May it be so.

lizhangart.com
albertwhitman.com

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.