Written by Webb Garrison
Pictures by Ray Abel
Prentice Hall, 1977
Genre: Children's nonfiction
Reading Level: ages 8-12
112 pages
Why Didn't I think of That, is a fun nonfiction children's book about a bunch of different everyday inventions. It talks about everything from alarm clocks to band aids, to elevators and erasers. Just to share a few of my favorites: the bikini swimsuit was invented in 1946 by Jacques Heim, he originally called it "the worlds smallest bathing suit" but it was soon changed to a bikini when at the same time the American government exploded a set of atomic bombs on a small island called Bikini. Another favorite of mine is the page on Jello. It was invented in 1900 by P.B. Wait. Many people had tried to make gelatin before but it wasn't very tasty, so Wait tried adding fruit syrup at first it wasn't very popular and Wait sold it to other cooking experts who put it into fancy dinners and now it's a favorite American food. My last favorite was the teddy bear. It was invented sometime between 1901-1909 during Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt's presidency. Roosevelt enjoyed hunting and one day while he was hunting a small cub came out of the woods, and Roosevelt couldn't shoot it. A cartoonist drew a cartoon of the president sparing the life of the nicknamed "Teddy bear". Toymakers ran with the idea and made teddy bears.
I would recommend this to any child; particularly children interested in inventing and engineering etc.
I can think of no controversy that could come with reading this book.
I really liked this book. I thought it was funny and portrayed things that aren't necessarily interesting in a very entertaining way. I think any child will love it. And it's funny because i learned a lot, and wasn't expecting to.
My rating 4 out of 5
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