Book Spotlight: The Boo Boos that Changed the World

Today we are sharing this new non-fiction release from Charlesbridge Publishing that tells the story of how one of the most USEFUL inventions came to be – the BAND-AID! Thank you to the publisher for sharing a free review copy for our blog. Now I don’t know about you, but at our house, band-aids are a magic cure all, frequently dispensed whether needed or not, for their undeniable power to convince a crying kiddo they are all better (or soon will be). The Boo-Boos that Changed the World by author Barry Wittenstein and illustrator Chris Hsu takes us back to a time before band-aids were a household staple and tells the story of how they were invented.

It turns out, Earle Dickson’s accident prone wife Josephine was the true inspiration behind the invention. Earle, a cotton buyer for Johnson & Johnson and son of a doctor, set out to find a better way to wrap Josephine’s often injured hands than with bulky kitchen rags.  Using adhesive tape, sterile gauze and crinoline, they developed the first prototype for the band-aid. THE END!

This is the part of the book when Bonnie shouts, “Wait, mom, it’s not the end. There are more pages to read!” And she is right. Earle’s boss was impressed, and even though he agreed to manufacture the bandages, the story was not quite over. Before band-aids really caught on, Johnson & Johnson actually had to give them away to soldiers serving in the war, and then the Boy Scouts. You learn something new every day! Eventually (but not as quickly as you would think!) the American public caught on, then the world, and the rest, well, is history.

Overall we really enjoyed reading this book together. It has just the right amount of humor to be engaging for 4-8 year olds, especially those interested in history, inventing, or who have an entrepreneurial spirit. Some of the manufacturing details were a little over Bonnie’s head (she is 4) but I really liked that the book shows that sometimes even the best ideas take a lot of work before they are successful. Hsu’s illustrations have a fun retro style that really matches the historical tone of the book. For classrooms, the book also contains really interesting back matter with historical facts and timelines about Earle Dickson, Band-Aids, and other medical inventions.

After reading this, we decided we wanted to be band-aid inventors, too, so we made this easy “beyond the book” snack. While edible band-aids might not be my most appealing concept (don’t think about it too much!), it was fun and super easy to make. We broke graham crackers into rectangles and I let Bonnie spread some white icing for the middle. Yum!

You can find your copy of The Boo-Boos that Changed the World from Chattanooga’s local indie bookstore Starline Books here!

Extras:

You can find a fun activity guide for educators here.

Check out a Podcast with the author Barry Wittenstein here and follow him on Twitter: @bwittbooks