Every invention starts out looking like a mess. A cereal box, most of a roll of tape, two paper towel tubes, and a wheel prised off a toy car, laid out on the kitchen floor in an arrangement only the inventor can see. Ask what it is and you get a long, confident, entirely coherent answer about a machine that feeds the dog. Then it falls over. That is not the project going wrong; that is the project. The people in these books did the same thing with better materials and more patience — George Ferris drew a wheel that other engineers said the steel would never hold, Momofuku Ando spent a year frying noodles in a shed behind his house, and a fourteen-year-old in Malawi built a working windmill out of a bicycle frame and blue gum poles because the village library happened to have a book about it.
From Bookroo's collection of 515 invention books, our editors picked thirteen that cover both halves of the subject: the true stories — crayons, the Ferris wheel, the Macy's parade balloon, instant ramen, the Super Soaker, the first airplane — and the made-up ones about children at a workbench who cannot get the thing to work yet. Start with the shortlist, then browse the board books for the youngest tinkerers, the picture books for one-invention stories, or the independent-reader shelf for inventor biographies, how-it-works reference, and novels about kids who build.
Rosie builds at night, in secret, out of trash — until her great-great-aunt Rose looks at a crashed cheese-copter and calls it a first try.
A girl knows exactly what she wants to make. Her first attempt is wrong. So is the second. By the tenth she has smashed her thumb and quit.
Macy's needed something the crowd at the back could see. Tony Sarg turned his marionettes upside down and filled them with helium.
Edwin Binney made barn-red paint and the black for tires. What schoolchildren needed was color that was cheap, strong, and safe to hold.
Lonnie Johnson was building a cooling system that ran on water, not Freon. He fired the test nozzle across the bathroom and stopped.
Chicago wanted something to out-do the Eiffel Tower. A young bridge engineer proposed a wheel, and every senior engineer told him the steel would not hold.
Postwar Osaka, long lines for a bowl of soup. Momofuku Ando spent a year in a backyard shed trying to make noodles that needed only hot water.
Blinded at five in his father's harness shop, Louis Braille was fifteen when he worked out that six raised dots were enough for every letter.
An orphan winds the clocks inside a Paris train station and repairs a broken mechanical man that he believes carries a message from his father.
Famine, no school fees, and a village library with a book about electricity. William Kamkwamba was fourteen and started collecting scrap.
Potato chips invented out of spite. Post-it Notes from a glue that failed. Forty everyday things that nobody meant to make.
The chocolate chip cookie, windshield wipers, Liquid Paper, Kevlar, and the Snugli — ten inventions and the workshops they came out of.
Two bicycle mechanics from Dayton solved flight by building their own wind tunnel and distrusting everyone else's numbers.
Robots, first machines, and board-book introductions to the people who dreamed them up — a short shelf, printed thick enough for the audience. Ages 0–4.
Discover the inventors who shaped our world with their groundbreaking ideas.
Discover the groundbreaking scientists who changed history in this vibrant board book.
Discover what truly makes a robot tick beyond gears and bolts.
Discover Iron Man's powerful armor and face his fiercest foes.
A robot searches for a missing arm. Can you help find a quirky replacement?
Explore the world-changing inventions of history's greatest minds.
Can Ben Franklin find a friend amidst the busy Founding Fathers?
One invention, one story: the crayon, the Ferris wheel, the parade balloon, a submarine built in the backyard — plus kid inventors whose first three attempts come apart in their hands. Ages 3–9.
Toy animals come to life and grow. Can kids stop them before chaos ensues?
A machine turns Buster's wild ideas into reality, causing chaos.
A young dreamer gazes at the stars, uncovering secrets of the universe's endless expansion.
A child genius's plan to make friends turns into chaos. Can he fix it?
Discover the secret life of a movie star turned wartime inventor.
A pig dreams of flying with birds. Can he make it happen?
A scientist uses experiments to make friends for her birthday party. What could go wrong?
A young inventor's flying machine could change everything at the Air Show and beyond.
Can a young inventor prove her ideas are worth creating on her own?
A robot and his dog discover a mysterious flower, unlocking nature's magic.
A clever fox schemes to win a jumping contest despite his lack of skill.
Discover how a poor boy revolutionized chocolate for everyone.
Inventor biographies, how-things-work reference, and novels about children with a workbench and a problem — for readers who want the mechanism explained. Ages 6–11.
A young girl investigates the disappearance of a neighbor's dog in her new neighborhood
A pug named Baron von Bubbles helps his owner Bella with an invention challenge at school
A young inventor helps her friend participate in an art contest despite her physical limitations
A cursed girl and inventor seek a song to defeat an evil queen.
A boy's luck changes when a girl and a flying machine lead him on a quest for a stolen treasure.
A girl races to win a science fair, risking friendships and priorities.
A mysterious boy arrives, and Ellie must prove his innocence to save him from a city's fear.
Twins kidnapped to force their inventor dad's hand. Can they outsmart their captors?
Explore the machines and inventions that shape our world.
A young girl must spy for the secret police or risk losing her family, but dreams of escape.
Kid inventors race to save their parents from a criminal mastermind using solar gadgets.
Aliens are coming, and only the kids can stop them.
