Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor

It was an interesting book. The author left out ten of her patents and inventions. It's easy to read for a fifth grader. I think that it is a good book to start learning about her.

Marvelous Mattie is the story of Margaret Knight, who was the first woman to be issued a U.S. patent for her invention of the flat-bottomed paper bag machine. And it was issued in 1871, a period when women's roles were narrow and prescribed. Born into a poor family, Mattie was always curious as to how things worked. Sketching away in her notebook, she designed and built kites that flew higher and sleds that slid faster. She even made her mother a foot warmer. At the age of twelve, Mattie went to work in a mill. After a young girl was practically killed in front of her eyes, she realized how dangerous it was and invented a safety device that saved workers from injury and death. Later, she went to work in a paper bag factory. She saw that the quality of the bags was poor (they didn't stand upright so the grocer had to use one hand to hold them open and they often split when filled with bulky items). So Mattie went to work on a design for a better bag. For two years she worked on her idea, sketching away and making paper bag cut-outs of her machine. She finally built a prototype out of wood. Just as she was getting ready to apply for a patent she heard that someone had stolen her idea. She went to court to prove it was her design, and she eventually won. Marvelous Mattie is a good read aloud book for a first, second or third grader. The watercolor-and-ink drawings are a nice fit with the Industrial Age time period. Plus, an added bonus is that the book features some of her actual drawings from the paper bag patent. A book like this will open up kids' eyes to all the inventions surrounding them on a day to day basis. Have them examine a paper bag closely so they can see everything that went into the design. Mattie's invention is still used today in making paper bags.

Middle elementary school kids will find this book a painless way to learn about someone of historical significance. Any child looking for a reference book about an inventor or a woman with historical significance will find this book entertaining.

An elementary librarian recommended this book to me and I bought it for my elementary school as well. Stories details encourage students to think about life of a young woman during the industrial age as well as being an inventor. Multiple lessons can be off shoots from reading this book. Book could be read alone by 4-5 graders but read aloud to younger grades.

Emily Arnold McCully's Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became An Inventor is based on the true story of a female inventor around the turn of the century, but reads like fiction and thus is featured here. Mattie loves to make things at an early age and loves to invent whenever a challenge comes up - but she lives during a time when women are believed to be unable to understand mechanical concepts. Her battle for recognition brought her all the way to the patent office and makes for a lively story of one girl's determination to succeed against all gender odds.