A book review of Meet J. Armand Bombardier (Scholastic Canada Biography) by Elizabeth MacLeod
Stars: ***
Scholastic Canada (2022)
Children’s Nonfiction>Biography
32 pages
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.
Summary: Meet Joseph-Armand Bombardier ― Canadian inventor, innovator and entrepreneur!
Born in 1907, Joseph-Armand grew up in Valcourt, a small village in Quebec. Like many places in rural and Northern Canada, it was often cut off from the world after winter snows made the roads impassable. When Armand was a kid, he was already inventing his own toys, including his first attempt at a vehicle that could drive through snow. As an adult, the passion to invent a snow machine became a serious ambition after his 2-year-old son died from appendicitis. It was winter and they could not get him to the hospital.
Armand persisted even after many failures ― until he did it! His B7 snow machine was used to deliver milk and mail . . . and it saved lives. But Armand didn’t stop there! He continued to invent and innovate his whole life, making contributions to the war effort and developing machines like the Muskeg tractor and the famous Ski-doo. His inventions revolutionized the way people live and work.
The award-winning Scholastic Canada Biography series highlights the lives of remarkable Canadians whose achievements have inspired and changed the lives of those who followed.
Meet J. Armand Bombardier
If you want to share with your child who invented the Ski-Doo and other snow vehicles, you will want to read them the story of J. Armand Bombardier, a Canadian who was interested in how vehicles work from an early age. He used this interest and his quick-learned knowledge to eventually create many different types of snow vehicles from a milk delivery truck to war vehicles to a school bus that moved through snow easily.
This is a picture book but is not just for little kids. Anyone ages 5+ can enjoy it. You would probably need to be 8+ to read it yourself though. The illustrations by Mike Deas are perfect and compliment the story nicely. I prefer illustrations that aren’t too cartoony but still have fun and colour.
We will be using this book in our homeschool during the winter as I think that’s the perfect time to introduce it.
This book is a part of The Scholastic Canada Biography series. Other titles include Meet Chris Hadfield, Meet Terry Fox, Meet David Suzuki and more.
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