Families who loved Jerome Lemelson: The Man Behind Industrial Robots by Lucia Raatma often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
Reach for this book when your child feels discouraged by a project that didn't work the first time or when they feel their 'out of the box' ideas aren't being taken seriously. Jerome Lemelson's life is a masterclass in the long game of innovation, showing that genius often looks like stubbornness before it looks like success. The narrative follows Lemelson from his early days of tinkering to becoming one of history's most prolific inventors, responsible for the tech in everything from robots to cassette players. It is perfectly pitched for elementary readers, using clear language and Smithsonian-vetted facts to illustrate that setbacks are just data points on the road to a breakthrough. Parents will appreciate how it validates the frustration of being misunderstood while celebrating the ultimate reward of persistence.
