The Boo-Boos That Changed The World

A true story about an accidental invention of the commonly used band-aid.



Title: The Boo-Boos That Changed The World
Author:  Barry Wittenstein
Illustrations:  Chris Hsu
Publisher:  Charlesbridge
ISBN:  9781580897457

Review:

Could you live without band-aids? If the answer is no, then you are not alone. The idea of a band-aid didn’t come about until 1924. The idea wasn’t created when a man by the name of Earle Dickson discovered that his wife never could go a day without a cut, scratch, scrape or some other boo-boo. So, to make life a little easier for her he came up with the idea to put sterilized gauze on small sticky pieces of tape to help heal small cuts and scrapes. During this timeline this was not the easiest task or invention, but with a little help from Johnson & Johnson it seemed to work itself out.

Readers are introduced to Earle and his wife Josephine in this story. Colorful illustrations mimic the 1920s with grays and muted colors. The back of the book shares the authors note, the inventor’s timeline, other medical inventions from that era and resources to learn more. There are even links to YouTube, so kids can watch some of the old Band-Aid commercials. Parents and teachers can use this tool to teach kids about history, inventions and how the simplest things can change our lives.

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