What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors

The biographical profiles are interesting but the fictional framing device and asides are contrived and lame. Includes a bibliography and suggestions for further information. There are better books available on these subjects for young readers.

o Summary of content/review: This book highlights the inventions, still used today, by African American inventors. Many of these inventors are overseen, but without their inventions, life as we know it today wouldn’t exist. This text highlights these inventors and their accomplishments, all while

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paying tribute to their African American heritage.
o Evaluation: This book is an informational text, set up in a fun and engaging format for elementary-aged audiences. It has a handful of flaps, filled with fun facts about these inventors and inventions.
o Target audience: 4th-6th grades
o Connection to classroom: I would use this text in my classroom as a reference for conducting research about these people and their inventions. I would also use this text when speaking about accomplishments of African Americans.

CC Standards: RI.5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

Classification: Theme Bin 1: Overcoming Adversity/Facing Hardships

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I really liked the way all stories of the inventors' lives were woven into the fictional story of the twins moving into their new home. It kept the book from becoming too "encyclopedia-like". I would definitely recommend this book to students looking for a fun story with interesting facts about

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famous inventors and inventions. This would also be an excellent recommendation during Black History Month.

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This is a really cool book that is structured so that facts about Af. Am. inventors are sandwiched around an ongoing dialogue between kids trying to understand the breadth of their ethnic and racial history.

The facts about inventors (or other famous, commonly unknown people) are told in detail,

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but there are also some "quick facts" about each person. This is an excellent teaching tool, but also just a neat book to have around.

There is a LOT of writing here, though-- the story is long, the biographical information is pretty long, too. It's definitely manageable, but probably more manageable if read in sections or read with adult support.

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RGG: Packaged in a little magical realism, short biographies of several African-American scientists. Reading Interest: 8-12.

RGG: Packaged in a little magical realism, short biographies of several African-American scientists. Reading Interest: 8-12.

Too many kids are growing up unaware of some of science's important contributors and innovators. This book seeks to remedy that in part with mini-bios of black inventors and the significant impacts they've made (blood bank, heart surgery, the personal computer, 3-D, potato chips, even the Super

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Soaker toy). The narrative about the kids and Mr. Mital that string the biographies together is a bit awkward, but overall it's an attractive package that will appeal to kids interested in science, black history, and interesting facts.

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A young reader's book that highlights the contributions of African Americans to science, medicine and technology, in the context of a story about a brother and sister helping to clean up an old house they will be moving into. Cleverly done.