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Going Up!: Elisha Otis's Trip to the Top
In 1818, seven-year-old Elisha was fascinated by farm machinery. As a young man, he tried a variety of ways to make a living, but nothing fired his imagination more than the job he found in a bed-frame factory. Soon he invented a machine that made frames four times faster than ever before. In 1852, while overseeing the construction of a new factory, he had to find a way to move heavy machinery to the second floor. He didn't trust the hoisting platform, so he invented a safety brake. It was so successful that rather than lift machine parts, Elisha decided to build "people-hoisting machines." In 1857, Elisha Otis installed his first successful passenger elevator in a five-storey department store in New York City. Before Elisha's invention, buildings were never higher than six stories. At last it was possible to build skyscrapers!
32 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2012
About the author
Monica Kulling
77 books71 followersMonica Kulling was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. She received a BA in creative writing from the University of Victoria. Monica Kulling has published twenty-six fiction and nonfiction books for children, including picture books, poetry, and biographies. She is best known for introducing biography to children just learning to read and has written about Harriet Tubman, Houdini, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Amelia Earhart among others. Monica Kulling lives in Toronto, Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 5, 2013
Reason for Reading: Next in the series.
I always enjoy good picture book biographies and Monica Kulling's "Great Idea Series" is a favourite of mine. She has a knack for picking the not so common inventors of the last 150 years or so. These are inventions we've heard of but the inventor's names are not always the most well known. I have heard of Elijah Otis before but if asked who he was I would have answered "an inventor" not really connecting his name with his famous and life-changing invention, the elevator. The book takes the usual form of this series which is comforting as each book is a welcome read when we know what to expect. This one skips Elijah's childhood very fast as by page three he is married, widowed, father of two and remarried as he sets off to try his luck in New York.
We find Elijah a studious man, who though working in a factory by day, spends his evenings designing machinery to improve the speed of the manufacturing process. Written with short paragraphs or two per page, each accompanied by large intricate illustrations that perfectly show off both Otis' character and the time period. We eventually learn how he comes up with the idea of the elevator, the public's initial reluctance to believe it was safe and the eventual implementation of the elevator in architecture and its direct influence on the building of "skyscrapers". Another fine entry in the series.
I always enjoy good picture book biographies and Monica Kulling's "Great Idea Series" is a favourite of mine. She has a knack for picking the not so common inventors of the last 150 years or so. These are inventions we've heard of but the inventor's names are not always the most well known. I have heard of Elijah Otis before but if asked who he was I would have answered "an inventor" not really connecting his name with his famous and life-changing invention, the elevator. The book takes the usual form of this series which is comforting as each book is a welcome read when we know what to expect. This one skips Elijah's childhood very fast as by page three he is married, widowed, father of two and remarried as he sets off to try his luck in New York.
We find Elijah a studious man, who though working in a factory by day, spends his evenings designing machinery to improve the speed of the manufacturing process. Written with short paragraphs or two per page, each accompanied by large intricate illustrations that perfectly show off both Otis' character and the time period. We eventually learn how he comes up with the idea of the elevator, the public's initial reluctance to believe it was safe and the eventual implementation of the elevator in architecture and its direct influence on the building of "skyscrapers". Another fine entry in the series.
January 6, 2019
Tells the story of Otis building elevators with breaks for goods and people. The story starts in his childhood working on a farm and uses lifting hay to lead to his ideas about elevators later.
I didn't know that Otis had invented anything else that was actually used! But he made a machine to make bed frames that was used in bed frame factories.
I didn't know that Otis had invented anything else that was actually used! But he made a machine to make bed frames that was used in bed frame factories.
February 15, 2021
Short story with excellent illustrations to tell the story of the invention of the elevator and its inventor, Elisha Otis. This is a series call Great Idea Series. Excellent short true stories of U.S. inventors, and a superb addition to any history and science curriculum for elementary and middle schoolers.
June 19, 2018
Another excellent living book about someone we don't hear a lot about - Mr Otis, the inventor of the everyday elevator. Elisha Otis made buildings more than 6 stories possible with his invention of the safety break on the lifts. Perfectly done!
January 14, 2019
It was a long time from inspiration (raising hay in the barn) to elevator for machinery and later humans. Interesting to see how what you learn/experience in childhood can inspire you even years later.
Hard to think of people being too afraid to enter an elevator.
Hard to think of people being too afraid to enter an elevator.
August 14, 2019
This introduction to the life and works of Elisha Otis is informative and engaging, one that is suitable for all ages. Even as an adult, I feel like I actually learned from this one (although it admittedly, I knew nothing about Elisha Otis beyond the phrase "invented the elevator"). Recommended!
January 15, 2018
Really interesting! I'm going to be checking out the entire series for sure now.
September 4, 2019
It's hard to imagine a world without elevators, but we have them today because of Elisha Otis' invention in the 1850's. This is his exciting story. Great illustrations.
May 8, 2020
G loved this one!
November 3, 2012
Hold That Elevator!
Monica Kulling’s Great Ideas Series showcases forgotten heroes, inventors who changed the course of history but whose inventions we now take for granted: George Eastman’s first photograph, Elijah McCoy’s steam engine, and Margaret Knight’s folding paper bag. The fourth book in the series tells the story of Elisha Otis and his elevator. As with her previous books in the series, Monica blends fiction and nonfiction to create an authentic historical and social landscape, as her poetic prose create very assessable characters.
“Going up!” shouts seven-year old Elisha Otis as he watches the hay hoist. It’s 1818, and young Elisha loves watching farm machines at work. He carries this love with him as he – at nineteen -- moves away from the farm, eventually starting his own family. By 1845, Elisha is working in a bed-frame factory, when he is inspired to make a machine that makes bed rails more quickly. His bed rail turned proved so successful, he is put in charge of building a new bed frame factory in Yonkers, New York. As he built the new factory, however, Elisha didn’t trust the hoisting platform; if the platform failed, as they often did in those days, falling machine parts could hurt people. So, he built a safety brake.
“Going up!” Elisha shouts to his men, as he began testing his safety brake. Once the platform reaches full height, he shouts, “Let it fall!” The workers are astonished as they watch – and the safety brakes hold the platform!
And then, Elisha gets a new idea:
“One night in 1853, Elisha sat bolt upright in bed. His nightcap was skew. “We’ll lift people!” he shouted.
“Lift people? Where?” mumbled a sleepy Betsy…
“Why, to the sky, of course! To the sky!”
But people didn’t trust the people-hoisting elevators. When the World’s fair comes to New York, Elisha finds his chance to prove his great idea.
The rest is history, of course.
David Parkins, who had also illustrated the critically acclaimed – and one of my favorite books – In The Bag: Margaret Knight Wraps It Up, captures the personality of Elisha, from his knitted brow of concern as he mulls over the design of the safety brake, to his wide-eyed eureka moment when he bolts upright in his bed. Other characters, too – his sleepy wife, the astonished workers, the amazed onlookers as he tests his machine at the World’s Fair – pop off the double-page spreads. Monica includes an author’s note, stating that before Elisha’s safety brake, buildings could only be six stories tall. Afterwards, however, the sky became the limit! Elisha’s invention made it possible to build skyscrapers. This is an excellent read aloud about having the determination to make a dream come true.
Monica Kulling’s Great Ideas Series showcases forgotten heroes, inventors who changed the course of history but whose inventions we now take for granted: George Eastman’s first photograph, Elijah McCoy’s steam engine, and Margaret Knight’s folding paper bag. The fourth book in the series tells the story of Elisha Otis and his elevator. As with her previous books in the series, Monica blends fiction and nonfiction to create an authentic historical and social landscape, as her poetic prose create very assessable characters.
“Going up!” shouts seven-year old Elisha Otis as he watches the hay hoist. It’s 1818, and young Elisha loves watching farm machines at work. He carries this love with him as he – at nineteen -- moves away from the farm, eventually starting his own family. By 1845, Elisha is working in a bed-frame factory, when he is inspired to make a machine that makes bed rails more quickly. His bed rail turned proved so successful, he is put in charge of building a new bed frame factory in Yonkers, New York. As he built the new factory, however, Elisha didn’t trust the hoisting platform; if the platform failed, as they often did in those days, falling machine parts could hurt people. So, he built a safety brake.
“Going up!” Elisha shouts to his men, as he began testing his safety brake. Once the platform reaches full height, he shouts, “Let it fall!” The workers are astonished as they watch – and the safety brakes hold the platform!
And then, Elisha gets a new idea:
“One night in 1853, Elisha sat bolt upright in bed. His nightcap was skew. “We’ll lift people!” he shouted.
“Lift people? Where?” mumbled a sleepy Betsy…
“Why, to the sky, of course! To the sky!”
But people didn’t trust the people-hoisting elevators. When the World’s fair comes to New York, Elisha finds his chance to prove his great idea.
The rest is history, of course.
David Parkins, who had also illustrated the critically acclaimed – and one of my favorite books – In The Bag: Margaret Knight Wraps It Up, captures the personality of Elisha, from his knitted brow of concern as he mulls over the design of the safety brake, to his wide-eyed eureka moment when he bolts upright in his bed. Other characters, too – his sleepy wife, the astonished workers, the amazed onlookers as he tests his machine at the World’s Fair – pop off the double-page spreads. Monica includes an author’s note, stating that before Elisha’s safety brake, buildings could only be six stories tall. Afterwards, however, the sky became the limit! Elisha’s invention made it possible to build skyscrapers. This is an excellent read aloud about having the determination to make a dream come true.
January 18, 2017
Elisha Otis was always fascinated with moving things and with machines. As a child he watched the workers on the farm move hay using ropes. The problem was that sometimes the ropes broke. Fast forward to adulthood and Otis's work in a factory. He had a problem: how to move heavy objects safely. Answer: Otis's new invention, the elevator. I loved to learn how the elevator moved beyond carrying objects to carrying people (even though people were wary of its safety) and how that led to other technological advances.
This book has a lighthearted yet informational tone to it. The book starts out with a fun little poem about riding a modern elevator. Even though it is an informational picture book biography, it reads like a story of Elisha Otis's fascination with machines and his invention of the elevator to solve a problem. The lively detailed and cartoonish illustrations make the 1800s setting come alive. Great way to introduce young readers to an inventor who they haven't heard of but whose invention they frequently use.
This book has a lighthearted yet informational tone to it. The book starts out with a fun little poem about riding a modern elevator. Even though it is an informational picture book biography, it reads like a story of Elisha Otis's fascination with machines and his invention of the elevator to solve a problem. The lively detailed and cartoonish illustrations make the 1800s setting come alive. Great way to introduce young readers to an inventor who they haven't heard of but whose invention they frequently use.
February 17, 2013
I liked this biography about Elisha Otis, the inventor of the elevator. The pictures are nice and give a good feel for story. I think it would be a good addition to the biography shelf at our school.
March 3, 2015
Step into an elevator..any elevator...and you can thank Elisha Otis. Also look around the elevator compartment...chances are it will say Otis on it. I enjoyed the story and the information. The pictures were good as well.
November 10, 2012
Brilliant. This invention sure has changed the world, and this biography explains to kids how the inventor thought of it and made it a universal machine. Nice.
March 25, 2014
A fun youth biography that tells the story of the man who invented the elevator. Very interesting!
November 21, 2014
I really liked the illustrations in this book.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews