The Unstoppable Garrett Morgan: Inventor, Entrepreneur, Hero

by Joan DiCicco, Ebony Glenn (Illustrator)

Overview

Garrett Morgan, a prolific African American inventor and entrepreneur, must test his latest invention in a daring rescue after an explosion at the Cleveland Waterworks.

"If a man puts something to block your way,
the first time you go around it,
the second time you go over it,
and the third time you go through it."

Living by these words made inventor and entrepreneur Garrett Morgan unstoppable! Growing up in Claysville, Kentucky, the son of freed slaves, young and curious Garrett was eager for life beyond his family's farm. At age fourteen, he moved north to Cleveland, where his creative mind took flight amidst the city's booming clothing-manufacturing industry.

Using his ingenuity and tenacity, Garrett overcame racial barriers and forged a career as a successful businessman and inventor. But when a tunnel collapsed, trapping twenty men, the rescue would test both Garrett's invention — and his courage.

Told in compelling prose by debut picture-book author Joan DiCicco and dynamic illustrations from artist Ebony Glenn, The Unstoppable Garrett Morgan is a powerful biography of an extraordinary man who dedicated his life to improving the lives of others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620145647
Publisher:	Lee & Low Books
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	190,673
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 10.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	980L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 11 Years

About the Author

Growing up, Joan DiCicco loved reading biographies and was inspired by other people’s stories. She was drawn to Garrett Morgan’s story after seeing him described in an anthology of African-American inventors as the only “hero-inventor” among them. This is her first picture book. Joan and her husband live in Portland, Oregon. You can visit her online at www.joandiciccowriter.com.

Ebony Glenn is a children’s book illustrator who enjoys bringing stories to life with whimsical and expressive imagery. A passion for the arts, great storytelling, and advocating for more diverse narratives in children’s books, she aims to create art that will foster a love of reading in young readers. You can find her online at ebonyglenn.com.

Editorial Reviews

08/26/2019

DiCicco’s well-researched debut picture book highlights the life of boundary-breaking African-American inventor Garrett Morgan. The son of Kentucky sharecroppers, Morgan heads north at 14, getting work as a handyman, opening a sewing machine repair shop—and, alongside his wife, “manufacturing affordable clothing for Cleveland’s growing black middle class”—inventing a traffic signal, and garnering a patent for the Safety Hood, a helmet that was developed into gas masks before WWI. Focusing primarily on the Safety Hood and a daring rescue that it facilitated, this biography recalls Morgan’s experience with fires as inspiration for the invention. Glenn’s digital illustrations, saturated in chalky sepias and browns, exude a diaphanous, smoky ambiance. An extensive timeline and bibliography wrap up this riveting tale of a man who fought against stacked odds to accomplish what he put his mind to. Ages 7–11. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"A stirring tribute to black excellence." — Kirkus Reviews

"[A] riveting tale of a man who fought against stacked odds to accomplish what he put his mind to." — Publishers Weekly

"Young readers will relate to this straightforward message of perseverance and encouragement and will warm to Glenn's attractive sepia-tinted pencil and watercolor illustrations." — School Library Journal

"This biography will find plenty of use in intermediate grades with units on Black history, inventors, segregation, the great migration, or early American history. Media specialists, teachers, and librarians will find this book to be a good addition to their collections and STEM offerings." — Booklist

Best Children's Books of the Year - Bank Street College of Education
Best Multicultural Books - Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature
Bluestem Award Nominee 2022 - Association of Illinois School Library Educators

From the Publisher

11/01/2019

Gr 2–4—The son of freed slaves, Garrett Morgan grew up on a sharecropper's farm, an environment in which necessity inspired ingenuity, due to the lack of funds and the constant need for better working tools and equipment. At 14, after a childhood spent creating and fixing, Morgan left the segregated South in search of greater opportunities. By 1901, he had developed and sold the rights to his first invention, a sewing machine belt tightener. After a horrific fire in his adopted hometown of Cleveland, Morgan created the Safety Hood, a heat-resistant canvas helmet with two long tubes attached to help rescuers breathe safely and avoid toxic fumes. Despite a racist public's reluctance to accept a black man's invention, the Safety Hood was widely adopted and was adapted to create gas masks for use in World War I. Morgan spent the rest of his life innovating, creating, and living by his motto: "If a man puts something to block your way, the first time you go around it, the second time you go over it, and the third time you go through it." VERDICT Young readers will relate to this straightforward message of perseverance and encouragement and will warm to Glenn's attractive sepia-tinted pencil and watercolor illustrations.—Kristy Pasquariello, Westwood Public Library, MA

School Library Journal

2019-08-12
An accessible first look at a celebrated inventor in the black community.

Garrett Morgan has been credited with the invention of the traffic light but is often overlooked in favor of other famous black innovators, such as George Washington Carver and Charles R. Drew. Debut picture-book author DiCicco gives young readers a solid overview of Garrett Morgan's wide-ranging versatility. The account of his humble beginnings as part of a Kentucky sharecropping family highlights how his circumstances led him to solve problems creatively. When he left for the North, he advanced his education with private tutoring. DiCicco uses affirmative vocabulary like "unstoppable" and "brave" to describe his resilience and determination in life—an attitude that led to his decision to marry a white woman before interracial marriages were federally legal. The bulk of the book is devoted to his invention of a piece of safety apparatus that ensured a supply of fresh air to firefighters before turning to the invention of the traffic light. The racism that he encountered along the way is not soft-pedaled. A detailed timeline and bibliography steer readers to resources that will enable them to further explore his life. Glenn supplies earth-toned paintings that give a sense of the period and evoke mid-20th-century Disney cartoons.

A stirring tribute to black excellence. (Picture book/biography. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews