What Color Is My World? The Lost History of African-American Inventors

Kareem Abdul -Jabber composes a wonderful collection of history of famous african american inventors and innovators throughout American history in the context of a fictional story about storytelling at its finest. The story speaks of Ella and Herbie, two young black children spending time with a young fixer upper Mr. Mital , who is taking care of their new home that mom just bought. Mr. Mital takes every opportunity to turn objects in the house into a museum of history as he explains the many untold African American inventors who made brought those things to life, such as Dr. Henry Sampson and the gamma electric cell, or Daniel Hale Williams and open heart surgery. Children at a young age, from grades 1-3 or beyond would love this book show more as it fills the senses with open flaps and graphic designs detailing the life of each innovator all in the context of a wonderful story of two children discovering their new home. It's an inspiring account and inspirational for any young black child to know this untold history. As Mr. Mital explains, history and invention is like a bucket brigade, where the bucket gets passed between hands but the last person who throws it on the fire gets all the credit. How true! show less

Who knew how many wonderful, essential and fun things were invented or innovated by African Americans! This book does a great job of sharing some of that information in an easy and fun way that kids and adults can easily understand. I had no idea that color graphics for PC's, 3-D movie glasses, microphones for cell phones and the ice-cream scoop were all invented by African Americans. I hope all American schools have this book in their school library. And I hope that soon all American schools actually teach American History without a political or racial bias, so our children have a true and complete understanding of our country's history.

There's something for everyone in this book. It's co-written by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it includes a narrative with bickering 13 year-old twins, there are pictures, fold-out "notepads", text boxes with biographies, a few graphic narratives, and lots and lots of interesting facts. While aimed at middle school students, sometimes the narrative seemed more suited to a younger audience (a magical handyman?). Nonetheless, the information presented on the many African-American's whose inventions and innovations have impacted our history and our everyday lives is fascinating and calls into question why they haven't been featured before. Among almost all their stories runs the theme of overcoming hardship to help others. I also like that the book show more explains the evolving nature of inventions/innovations; each person is standing on the shoulders of those who came before. show less

Too many kids are growing up unaware of some of science's important contributors and innovators. This book seeks to remedy that in part with mini-bios of black inventors and the significant impacts they've made (blood bank, heart surgery, the personal computer, 3-D, potato chips, even the Super Soaker toy). The narrative about the kids and Mr. Mital that string the biographies together is a bit awkward, but overall it's an attractive package that will appeal to kids interested in science, black history, and interesting facts.

A young reader's book that highlights the contributions of African Americans to science, medicine and technology, in the context of a story about a brother and sister helping to clean up an old house they will be moving into. Cleverly done.

I really liked the way all stories of the inventors' lives were woven into the fictional story of the twins moving into their new home. It kept the book from becoming too "encyclopedia-like". I would definitely recommend this book to students looking for a fun story with interesting facts about famous inventors and inventions. This would also be an excellent recommendation during Black History Month.

This is a really cool book that is structured so that facts about Af. Am. inventors are sandwiched around an ongoing dialogue between kids trying to understand the breadth of their ethnic and racial history.

The facts about inventors (or other famous, commonly unknown people) are told in detail, but there are also some "quick facts" about each person. This is an excellent teaching tool, but also just a neat book to have around.

There is a LOT of writing here, though-- the story is long, the biographical information is pretty long, too. It's definitely manageable, but probably more manageable if read in sections or read with adult support.