Alexander Graham Bell: An Inventive Life

The Globe and Mail

Using photographs and copies of Bell’s notes and letters, as well as text, all advantageously positioned, MacLeod ably conveys the prodigious curiosity and inventiveness that propelled an extraordinary life.

ForeWord

In what has ? become a rush to publish biographies of Bell, this emerges as the least formal, most approachable of the pack.

Books in Canada

Alexander Graham Bell: An Inventive Life is packed with pertinent information, it is easy to read, and it includes an excellent chronology of Bell’s life and times as well as great photographs, working notes, and sketches.

From the Publisher

Alexander Graham Bell: An Inventive Life is packed with pertinent information, it is easy to read, and it includes an excellent chronology of Bell’s life and times as well as great photographs, working notes, and sketches.

In what has ? become a rush to publish biographies of Bell, this emerges as the least formal, most approachable of the pack.

Using photographs and copies of Bell’s notes and letters, as well as text, all advantageously positioned, MacLeod ably conveys the prodigious curiosity and inventiveness that propelled an extraordinary life.

In what has ? become a rush to publish biographies of Bell, this emerges as the least formal, most approachable of the pack.

Shirley Murray

Well-researched details, photographs, portions of original documents and special type make each double page a montage to convey a single thought.... An exceptional offering from McLeod, a children's editor whose inventive books are always full of surprises.
— ForeWord Magazine

Children's Literature - Helen J. Gaush

Everyone knows that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, but what about his other contributions to the world? In fact, he helped deaf people to better communicate, designed airplanes and sea devices, and even created a vacuum jacket for people with breathing problems! With its vivid account of Bell's life and the people who influenced him, Alexander Graham Bell: An Inventive Life sheds light onto both the scientific and compassionate sides of one of greatest inventors that ever lived.

Children's Literature - Katie DeWald

Young readers will be intrigued by the life of the man who invented the world's first telephone. In this book the seemingly other-worldly life of Alexander Graham Bell as an immigrant, teacher, and scientist is described in an interesting and kid-friendly manner. Young Alexander, known as Aleck, was a teacher of deaf children who developed many techniques of teaching his students to speak. Aleck taught during the day and experimented with sound at night. He sent the first telephone message to his friend Thomas Watson. Aleck then traveled to different places sending messages over increasingly longer distances, and finally had to convince people not to be afraid of the telephone. Readers will be amazed by the workings and appearance of the first telephones, as they are virtually unrecognizable as telephones of the present day. MacLeod simply tells the story of the life of Bell in an appealing and informative way that is accessible to young readers. Krystoforski's illustrations bring the reader into the midst of the story, providing the reader with glimpses of Bell's life in the late 1800s. This level 3 book of the "Kids Can Read" series is a fact-filled, straightforward look into the life of Alexander Graham Bell, which kids will enjoy reading on their own. Reviewer: Katie DeWald

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-Another addition to the growing collection of biographies about Bell. MacLeod traces her subject's life from his birth in Scotland, through his many inventions and achievements, and concludes with his last few experiments and his death at his home in Canada. She gives equal attention to all of Bell's interests, such as his devotion to advancements for the hearing impaired and his later interest in flight. Photos and reproductions of the subject and his family and sketches of his many inventions appear on colorful backgrounds. A list of Web sites is appended. Tom Matthews's Always Inventing National Geographic, 1999 is a more substantial book for the same age group, but this one is an adequate choice with its own merits.-Carol Fazioli, The Brearley School, New York City, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In what has, for no discernable reason, become a rush to publish biographies of Bell, this emerges as the least formal, most approachable of the pack. MacLeod (I Heard a Little Baa, 1998) takes the great inventor, familiarly dubbed "AGB," from Edinburgh to Ontario, on to Boston, and finally to his estate in Nova Scotia, giving his public and private lives equal attention, capturing his vast range of interest from aeronautics to audiology, and bringing his familiar exploits to life. A stubby caricature of Bell guides readers through full but not overcrowded collages of family photos, manuscript pages, simple diagrams, period advertisements, and newspaper illustrations. This is just a glimpse of the man, of course, and those who want to take a longer look can start with either the web sites listed at the back, or move on to Tom L. Matthews's Always Inventing (p.Ê69). (index) (Biography. 8-10) .