Guitar Genius: How Les Paul Engineered the Solid-Body Electric Guitar and Rocked the World
By Kim Tomsic
The Story
A true story about a young inventor who builds his own microphone from a broomstick, a cinderblock, and a telephone, then goes on to engineer the world's first solid-body electric guitar.
Why It's Special
For the kid who's already taken apart three remote controls just to see how they work, this is proof that tinkering can lead somewhere extraordinary.
- Big idea: Curiosity and scrappy, hands-on experimenting can turn ordinary household junk into something that changes the world.
- Vibes: Energetic, inventive, and full of clattering, homemade ingenuity
Perfect For Kids Who
- love taking things apart to see how they work
- enjoy true stories about real inventors
- are working on sticking with an idea until it works
- respond well to music and rock and roll history
Ask Your Little Reader
- Story & problem-solving: What household objects did Les Paul use to build his first homemade microphone?
- Imagination: If you could invent something out of stuff around your house, what would you build?
- Real-life connection: Have you ever tried to fix or build something yourself, even if it didn't work the first time?
- Feelings & empathy: How do you think Les Paul felt when one of his experiments didn't work right away?
- Big ideas: Why do you think curiosity was so important to Les Paul becoming an inventor?
