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Going Up! Elisha Otis’s Trip to the Top

SKU: GOINGUP Categories: ,

Author: MONICA KULLINGS (illustrated by David Parkins)
Format: SOFT (Softcover)
Publication Date: 2012

$8.50

10 in stock

Description

This is the fourth book in Tundra's award-winning Great Idea Series of biographies for young readers.

It's the story of Elisha Otis, the man who invented and installed his first successful passenger elevator in a five-story department store in New York City. Author Monica Kulling brings this inventor to life, from his humble beginnings as a boy on a farm in Vermontto to a man who made use of his entrepreneurial skills and settled in New York. An open picture-book format with remarkable illustrations and use of dialogue make this book an engaging and informative work for younger readers.

In 1818, seven-year-old Elisha was fascinated by farm machinery. As a young man, he tried a variety of ways to make a living, but nothing fired his imagination more than the job he found in a bed-frame factory. Soon he invented a machine that made frames four times faster than ever before. In 1852, while overseeing the construction of a new factory, he had to find a way to move heavy machinery to the second floor. He didn't trust the hoisting platform, so he invented a safety brake. It was so successful that rather than lift machine parts, Elisha decided to build "people-hoisting machines." In 1857, Elisha Otis installed his first successful passenger elevator in a five-storey department store in New York City. Before Elisha's invention, buildings were never higher than six stories. At last it was possible to build skyscrapers!

Paperback | 32 pages | 1 lb.

Author Bio

Monica Kulling was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. She received a BA in creative writing from the University of Victoria. Monica Kulling has published twenty-six fiction and nonfiction books for children, including picture books, poetry, and biographies. She is best known for introducing biography to children just learning to read and has written about Harriet Tubman, Houdini, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Amelia Earhart among others. Monica Kulling lives in Toronto, Canada.

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