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Usborne Quicklinks
Quicklinks for internet-linked books
Click on the links to visit the recommended websites.
Websites to visit
Website 1
See a working model of George Stephenson's locomotive "Rocket". (Scroll down to the bottom and click on the play button.)
Website 2
Watch a video about an early flying experiment of Orville and Wilbur Wright.
Website 3
Explore the Wright Flyer. (Click and drag the image and roll your mouse to zoom in. To find out more click on the pin icon on the left then click on the pins.)
Website 4
Find out about Thomas Edison's lightbulb.
Website 5
Quick facts about Thomas Edison.
Website 6
Listen to a recording for a talking doll made by Thomas Edison in 1888.
Website 7
Watch a video about the invention of some things we use every day.
Website 8
Find out about the science behind everyday inventions, including musical strings, sails and engines. (Click on a clip in the playlist.)
Website 9
Build an invention or find out about some young inventors.
Website 10
Play some games and find out more about inventing.
Website 11
An A to Z guide to inventions and inventors.
Website 12
More about everyday inventions and their inventors.
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See inside
See inside inventions
“A hands-on science lesson!”
Lancashire Evening Post
Alex Frith has been a children's author for more than a decade, covering every topic on Earth, from prehistoric animals to robots with artificial intelligence, and everything under the Sun, from the origins of the Universe to the adventures of Thor, God of Thunder. At home he reads too many comics, and attempts to raise three children with an awful lot of help from his wife, and no help at all from his cat.
There’s a lot to be said for flaps. They draw out curiosity (who wouldn’t want to know what is hidden behind a flap), they introduce drama to reading (what’s going to be revealed…?) and they keep hands busy (great if your reader isn’t one who likes to sit still), so See Inside Inventions was already looking like a winner, even before we started reading... when we did start reading, we loved the book even more.
Playing by the Book blog
Find out more about the world's most fascinating and funny inventions.
Hay Fever blog
I absolutely loved the interactivity of this ‘lift the flaps’ book... What’s more it is not just a parade of facts – we find out about people and the history behind the inventions, essential context to make the science interesting.
Popular Science
Famous inventions often come about for strange reasons and this book shows how things were invented, often by chance, such as the sticky burrs on a dog's coat that led to the introduction of velcro.. Lift the flaps (over 60 of them) to reveal intricate drawings which show the hidden workings inside inventions. Engines, flying machines, electricity and more - all explained in easy-to-understand language.
Parents in Touch
I would recommend this book. I liked the flaps and pictures. The information was interesting. Some of it I already knew, but there was lots I didn’t. I liked reading about the Swiss engineer who invented Velcro. He got the idea from the burrs that stuck to his dog.
Angus Whitworth, age 9, The Times Eureka Magazine
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