A little bit history of factory workers, a little bit women's history, and a little bit teaching how patents work, I liked this story of determination and creativity.

I love reading books like this one about inventions that you never put much thought into that make life so much easier! This book tells the story of Margaret E. Knight who invented a machine to create paper bags with a flat bottom. The book tells about how at the time woman were not likely to be found in this line of work, and the dangerous working conditions that they faced. Mattie wasn't the average girl, and started invented things at a very young age. When a man tried to steal her invention and get it patented she was not about to let that happen!

This book would be great to use as a resource during women history month! In my school I could see this being used during our invention convention that we do each year where students are asked to invent something that would make life easier for themselves or someone in the world! ( )

This picture book biography tells the little-known story of Margaret E. Knight who, among other things, invented a way to easily make mass-produced square-bottomed paper bags -- and then nearly had the patent stolen out from underneath her by a dastardly man!

This book would be great in an elementary school classroom for a unit on inventions/inventor as well as for women's history month units. It's also a good one-on-one read between a caregiver and child of elementary school age. It could even be used with middle school-age children as the text is quite meaty. There's plenty to talk about and discuss from both the invention side and the equality side.

The illustrations are done in a gentle watercolor style, which works well for this historical tale. ( )

I never knew of Margaret E. Knight, but from reading this biography I have Learned that she was an American Inventor. When she was twelve she invented a metal gaurd to protect mill workers from shuttles that would shoot off the end of looms. When she turned eighteen she moved away from home and got a job in a factory that produced paper bags. Margaret is mainly known for inventing the flat bottom paper bag. At this time, many women were not usually inventing things, this is what made Margaret unique. The biography was very informative and gave a lot of details. The accuracy was precise and had many interesting facts about Margaret and her life as an inventor. She was a smart, creative, inventive, and ambitious woman. ( )

Marvelous Mattie is a very inspiring book. Mattie was a poor girl who didn't really see herself as that. She inherited a toolbox from her father that held various tools inside. Mattie used these tools to bring her creative ideas to life. As a young girl unafraid to explore, Mattie sketched and created inventions for her family and soon became a worker at the mill. When an incident occurred that left one girl dead, Mattie soon analyzed why and what went wrong with the machine and vowed to do something about it. She later ventured off on her own and began to start the development of the paper bag and faced numerous problems with other inventors and women's oppression. Mattie soon patented her paper bag invention and showed the world that women can create and handle the same complexities as men. ( )