Picture Book Wednesday - Things Not Always What Is Seen

Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  Thanks to her hosting and sharing and those who add their posts discover and celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books!  I always learn from these books, am happy that they are more and more available today for children, for everyone!

Monday, I posted a giveaway HERE for a Shakespeare pop-up book!

        It's an intriguing thing to read of a gorgeous movie star who regretted her looks because she was also an inventor, also smart, though it wasn't easy to prove it. "People seem to think because I have a pretty face I'm stupid...  I have to work twice as hard as anyone else to convince people I have something resembling a brain."
        In this new book, Laurie Wallmark, with Katy Wu, (the team that also gave us Grace Hopper: Queen of Computer Code) show Hedy's life as a contradiction, a young girl who loves to take things apart to see how they work and one who also loves acting, who sets up a stage beneath her father's desk in order to put on plays with her dolls. In her native Austria, her acting was noticed when she had the lead in a play, thus she left for America under contract with Louis B. Mayer. Laurie Wallmark shows her public life filled with glamour and beauty, romance and intrigue, yet the true intrigue was behind the scenes as she set up her parlor into an inventor's workshop. Underneath the lines she learned and the designer clothes she wore, she looked for problems that needed solutions! Among those shared, she solved the problem to help people out of the bathtub, a 'flavor-cube' for thirsty travelers, and a glow-in-the-dark dog collar to help people find their lost dogs. 

        While Hedy was inventing and becoming a beloved movie star, World War II arrived where guidance systems "couldn't prevent the enemy from jamming the weapon's radio signals." She, with George Antheil, a composer and former weapons inspector, devised a 'secure' torpedo guidance system. Here is Hedy's exciting (secret?) story, their persistence to make their idea workable and to obtain a patent. Wallmark's text celebrates their idea and the patience taken. And that is the interesting, but frustrating, part. They did obtain the patent, but sadly, according to the text, the Navy has neither the time nor the money to use the idea. However, this idea, one called "frequency-hopping spread spectrum" is the invention that keeps our cell phone calls and texts private. Fifty years later, Hedy and George were "finally" recognized for their work. Hedy said, "It's about time."

        Laurie's text offers much information, about Hedy's early life, her movie stardom, and especially the part Hedy seemed to care most for, her work inventing. Each page fills with background information in interesting mixed-media illustrations by Katy Wu, including direct quotations by Hedy. "The brains of people are more interesting than looks, I think." and "Do good anyway. . .Think big anyway. . .Build anyway." are only two examples that will spark great conversations when the book is offered to a group.

Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing for young readers to meet and talk with those, like Hedy, that we only think of in terms of beauty and glamor, what we "see" instead of the thoughts within those we see? It's a great story that will add to the growing number of books that inform, educate, and entertain. (The three purposes of news!)

The book also has a timeline, added explanation of the secret communications system, a selected bibliography, additional reading and a list of Hedy Lamarr's films. It's a terrific biography!