Thomas Edison: The Man Who Lit Up the World

Sterling Biographies

by Martin Woodside

A biography of America's most famous inventor Thomas Edison.

Genres: Biography

124 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Martin Woodside is a writer, educator, and founding member of Calypso Editions. He earned his MFA and a MeTara certificate in Children’s Literature from San Diego State University and a Ph.D. in Childhood Studies from Rutgers-Camden in 2015. His current book, Frontiers of Boyhood: Imagining America Past and Future (Oklahoma University Press), explores the cultural interplay of boyhood and frontier mythology in nineteenth-century America. Woodside has published five children’s books, collections of poetry, and translations of Romanian poetry. He has taught for nearly two decades and serves as an Assistant Principal in the School District of Philadelphia.

Reviews

[Featherpen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Sterling Biography I've read and I'm impressed! It was so informative and gave an honest picture of Edison, both the good and the bad. I love that it gives bios of important figures mentioned along the way. I loved it as an adult, but I wonder how far down in age it would work. I think it's perfect for jr. high and high school research, but not sure about elementary.

[Michael Cawley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting biography of a brilliant workaholic inventor with a combative personality.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook with kids

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't like reading biography much...I am very picky about it. I always find biography a bit boring, but for this Sterling Biographies of Thomas Edison, I really recommend this book to be read by everyone, regardless you like reading biography or not.

I found out (after buying it) that this is a biography for kids. But never mind, this one is still worth reading, full of informative article and pics of Edison's invention, you'd never feel bored reading it. And besides, a biography with lots of pics would never make me bored.

In this book you'd find how genius Edison was, how he always kept himself motivated to create and create and create new things. He even created a battery storage for cars. Hmmm...if we still drive cars with electricity until this day, I bet we won't have pollution problems.

Besides telling us about his inventions, this biography also tells about his family, how his 3 children from his first marriage didn't get along well with him, one of his sons (Thomas Jr.) even changed his last name, for he thought it was a burden for him. The other one became a farmer. Only his other sons from his second marriage did get the job in Edison's company. And oh, he got "kicked" out of GE, the company he founded. Kinda like what happened to Steve Jobs. The different is that Jobs regained his power by becoming Apple's CEO, Edison got his shares and was asked to leave the company.

[Hunter C. 8 Rdg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because it was jam packed with cool facts.The author did a really good job of showing the good and bad parts of Thomas Edison's life. So if you need a good read or to do a project on a inventor you should read this book. You would be surprised at how interesting this biography is. This by far one of the best books i've read in awhile.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first impression of this book was that it was a bit long on personal life issues, to the detriment of the meat of the inventions, the efforts and the entrepreneurship.
But upon reading a substantial chunk to my children, it is more balanced than I had thought. My apologies to the publisher. There is much to learn here.

[Ibrahim970400 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think any one would like to increase his/her english & get some knowledge this is the right book.

[Muhammad]

I think he was a great inventor and that he was a very fortunate man at his time.

[Becky S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome guy!

[Horace Mann Family Reading Challenge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about the life of Thomas Edison and the pros and cons of his life. J.S.