Delightful discoveries on every page. That was my first thought as I read this book. Other thoughts included – ‘Who knew?’, ‘Really!’, ‘So this is how this came about :)!’, and so on.

It is simply full of ‘proud-that-I-am-a-woman’ moments when I read this book. Women account for so many wonderful, useful, making-everyday-lives-easier-better-safer inventions that I did not know about earlier (and that is definitely one of the reasons we need books like these). And you will learn about them too in ‘Brilliant Ideas from Wonderful Women’.

I love that the sections for each woman includes more than just the brilliant idea. It also includes the inspiration behind the brilliant idea and the efforts the women had to take to bring their idea to reality (dress like a man – check; keep going at it in-spite of obstacles galore – check; and more).

In addition, little data ‘bubbles’ around the pages provide some more fun stuff; such as, other ideas these wonderful women are credited with and/or some additional interesting facts about them.

I love that this can lead to encouraging more girls towards STEM by showing them that if these women could do it in-spite of all the obstacles they faced, girls today can definitely #MakeWhatsNext with all the opportunities they have.

Last but not the least, the illustrations! They are bright, full of whimsical details, informative, and totally creative to fit perfectly with brilliant ideas and wonderful women, with just the right touch of humor too.

Additional Notes:

I do wonder why the book cover uses the word ‘by‘ (Brilliant Ideas By Wonderful Women), while everywhere else, the title has the word ‘from‘ (Brilliant Ideas From Wonderful Women) instead.
This book includes only women from the USA. Again, the pros of this book overpower this caveat and I hope the author and illustrator work together to create more books to include a diverse set of women around the world.
Since this book is aimed at really younger audiences, a helpful glossary of ‘big’ words used in the book would have made the book even better. Including an index of additional resources for the older reader to look into would be another wonderful plus for this book, if possible (maybe in a future edition or in the next book like this)
And a minor, minor caveat: the e-arc I used for review purposes had some issues – missing words mainly between pages – lost in …. whatever. But I am hoping and am sure the published edition will be without any such errors. Note that this does not detract from the wonders of the book!

In Summary:
This is one brilliant book where there is something for everyone to discover. And you might be inspired to come up with brilliant ideas of your own which will be used all over the world sometime in the future!

A great addition to any school library (and homes too). To encourage more girls towards and to stay in STEM programs, to inspire everyone to explore and to work to make their ideas a reality.

Rating: 5/5
Reading Level: 5 – 8 years (and above as well!)

Disclaimer: Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the eARC of this book. The opinions expressed are my honest thoughts as I read the book.

I received an electronic ARC from Quarto Publishing through NetGalley.
Information text on fifteen different inventions created or developed by women. A two-page spread for each provides facts and illustrations to introduce elementary level readers to these inventions.
Some of the text is disjointed but readers will be able to follow the concepts.
Use as a springboard to further study of these women.

What an incredibly inspiring book that pays tribute to fourteen trailblazing women, who each made a unique contribution to the history of science and technology!

Before this brilliant book by Aitziber Lopez I had no idea that some of the twentieth century's revolutionary and key inventions were pioneered by women. Think car heaters, lifeboats, wifi, disposable diapers and more, were all originated and inspired by some very creative and intelligent women.

An informative, inspiring and important book perfectly fitting in this 'Rebel Girls' ear. I just hope more comes from this author/illustrator duo focusing on other women and inventions from around the world, as this book solely focuses on women from America.

This book is very important because it brings to light many female inventors who are not mentioned in school. I had not heard of most of the women mentioned because in school, it is more common for curriculum to focus on male inventors. This book is important and should be read by all.

A surprisingly short book, but one that successfully shows the riches of females joining in with STEM research and creating modern inventions, from car windscreen wipers (albeit not automatic ones) to Kevlar, and from heated car seats to a more modern life raft. Clearly the publishers intend to tidy up all the unfinished sentences and date errors from the e-arc, but words like opaque and viscous could do with a tiny glossary for the target audience too. Others have commented how US-centric it is, well - that's history, folks! This should be suitable for many a school library. Great illustrations, too.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Wide Eyed Editions for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Brilliant Ideas for Wonderful Women by Aitziber Lopez's nonfiction picture book is brilliant and beautiful. It showcased some everyday as well as technical inventions created by women. Easy to read and informative text complimented by lovely illustrations catch a reader up on lesser know books. This would be an outstanding addition to your library.

This was a great book championing women who invented something or greatly-enhanced something yet who have received little or no credit for it. The only one in the entire book I'd heard of was Hedy Lamar so shame on me! But now I know better!

This book is aimed at a young audience, but it's educational for anyone and everyone, and it's important to realize and properly understand that it wasn't white men who did everything in history. Nor was it all white women, so having someone of color in here would have been better, but for now, I'll take this. Maybe volume two will fix that other discrepancy.

This was an ARC, so there were some errors in it which I presume will be fixed before the final edition comes out. I list them here as (hopefully!) a help to the author and publisher. The section on Stephanie Kwolek, the inventor of Kevlar®, talks about nylon as being natural, like silk, but it isn't! It is organic in that it contains carbon, but that's not the same as saying it's natural. Nylon is very much artificial.

Page 23 ends the description in the middle of a sentence. It would be nice to have the rest of that sentence! This same thing happens on p30 where it seems to suggest that Mary Anderson invented the windshield rather than the windshield wiper! In this context, and from what I've read, the tram operator wasn't stopping repeatedly to clean off the windshield, but driving with the front windows open because of the sleet. This is how Mary came to the conclusion that a windshield wiper would be a good idea.

Note that I don't merit a print copy for reviewing, so all I get is the ebook, and in that context, there is an issue on page 26. The ebook shows only one page at a time, not a double spread, so swiping to this page made it appear as though it was a continuation of something from a non-existent previous page. It was only when I swiped to the next page that I saw that the title section for this double spread was on the second of these two pages. This isn't obvious and is in fact confusing in the ebook. On p27, where the article actually begins, there is also a grammatical error where it begins, "Helen's initially wanted to study..." There's an apostrophe 's' too much there, it would seem!

On page 28, Maria Beasley's birthdate is completely wrong. She could hardly have invented an improved life raft used on the Titanic if she was born 35 years after it sank! Should the date be 1847 instead of 1947? I don't know since I couldn't find a birth date given for her, but 1847 would make sense. Finally, on page 32, there's a Spanish phrase at the end of the description, which appears to be a Spanish translation of the start of the previous sentence. I don't know what that's all about (given the author's name perhaps the original of this book was written in Spanish?), but it certainly doesn't belong there in an English edition!

Those issues aside (and believe me I understand how easy it is to make goofs like that - we authorial wannabes have all been there!), I commend this as a worthy read and an educational read too.

Did you know that the material used to make firefighter helmets and bulletproof vests was invented by a woman?

This is a brilliant tribute to fifteen amazingly creative women whose inventions made our world a better and safer place to live in. Car heaters and windshield wipers, Wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS, sea flares and life rafts, diagnostic tests and syringes -all of them were invented by women. Millions and millions of mothers can spend happy hours playing, interacting, raising their children instead of spending half of their life on mindless housework drudgery thanks to dishwashers, nappies and washing machines. I loved the way this book lets us discover the story behind the inventions and how hard these women had to fight to get their ideas accepted.
This book is a must for any school library. Children should grow up knowing these names: Margaret Wilcox, Marion Donovan, Stephanie Kwolek, Hedy Lamarr to name just a few.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group Wide Eyed Editions for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

*thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Wide Eyed Editions for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

4 stars.

An interesting collection of short stories about famous and well known equipment, games, appliances and all other kinds of everyday bits and pieces. It was fun to read that it was females who invented these things and how they came about doing so. It is told in a way that's ment for children but its easily a hit for adults aswell. I liked the illustrations and the cover page. I would have preferred a more diverse range of females who have invented amazing things but this collection is still great with the focus being on American ladies. Maybe that is just an opening for a part 2 of this? I know I'd enjoy another similar book. Definitely worth checking out, for all ages.

I love books like this that highlight important moments in history created by women in all different time periods. Even before there was a women's rights movement, there have always been bold women paving the way. The women highlighted in Brilliant Ideas by Wonderful Women have all contributed by coming up with innovative ideas. These women's invention have made our lives easier to live, and a few have even made our lives safer. I love that this book introduces children to the women behind the thoughts that became ideas that have changed lives. I recommend this book to all kids, and adults as well. This is a great book to read together with your kids. You will definitely learn a new thing or two about some of history's greatest inventions and the women behind them.

What a great book. It was very informative about women who invented everyday things. You always hear about men inventors but rarely women. It was easy to read with fascinating facts. The illustrations supported the book well. My daughter loved it. Thank you netgalley for another great find.

I loved this book! I enjoyed learning about all of the different inventions that we have thanks to women. A great read for little aspiring inventors!

This was absolutely delightful. The stories of women and their inventions are kept simple, but I found them very inspiring—I love how the cumulative effect for young minds is the feeling that anyone can get out there and create something life-changing. It'll be great for parents to read with their kids and dream up their own inventions. Bonus: the artwork is colourful and beautiful, with a lovely dash of humour.

What an incredible and inspiring book.
Full of comical illustrations but nothing could detract from the clever ideas this women came up with.
A book of passion and determination with 15 roll models for inspiring scientists and inventors. That they are all female makes this a special book as the times they worked were so male dominated they hard to work harder for any recognition or support.
That I did not know a few of the names here or their life saving, life enhancing ideas Shos the need for such a book. That I did not know Kevlar was a woman is a disgrace as a father of two daughters who went to university and one who teaches science.
A book that is worth its place on anyone’s shelf or bedroom and 15 lives of women who made a real contribution to our society to help us all to never accept mediocrity. A must read book a real learning experience.

Monopoly, the dishwasher, the car heater, Kevlar, windscreen wipers, the first eBook,...

All inventions by unconventionally thinking women. Wonderful illustrations and information on theses women.

One disadvantage, only women from the USA have been portrayed.

This anthology has the same stunning and informative quality of Little People, Big Dreams. I was amazed to discover the number of ideas and invention that women were responsible for. This book would be perfect for children of all ages, gender and background; it inspires anyone who reads with an open mind and courage that they can achieve anything.