Who hasn't used a dishwasher? Who has ever questioned who invented the dishwasher? Josephine Cochrane finds dishwashing to be a task she'd rather not be doing. So as necessity is the mother of invention, she tinkers around and invents a machine that gets the job done. I love the inclusion of other women inventors.

This is one of several women-in-stem picture book biographies I've read this year, and it certainly stands out! Hannigan tells Josephine's story with flair and the illustrations are so colorful and detailed that I wish we could have them as artwork for our library!

Josephine and Her Dishwashing Machine is a good book for kids to learn about the inventing process as well as a little known female inventor. The illustrations are appropriate for younger kids and the story length should keep most kids engaged.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book for my honest opinion.

Legitimately never knew who invented the dishwashing machine, just knew I was Uber grateful to them! This book is perfect, especially for girls, who want to see a reflection of themselves in inventors who are well known and well regarded. As a child overall, my son absolutely loved the illustrations and the story behind someone having some failures and then ultimately great success. He loved listening to the tale of how Josephine went through all sorts of trials, yet never gave up, even when she was told to! This is a beautifully written STEM story and I’m glad I had the chance to review it! Thank you!

An adorably told story of the inventor of the washing machine and her struggles and victories. There art in the book is colorful and whimsical while still showing details of the time period on which Josephine lived. The book drew us in and excitedly shared Josephine’s story (and her persistence) with us.

I love these picture book biographies and this is a perfect mix of information and delightful illustrations. This biography is about Josephine Faris Cochrane whose birthday is appropriately on International Women's Day, March 8th!

When you see a dishwasher, do you think of its origin? I know I didn't. Josephine actually came from a line of innovators and as she researched a way to wash dishes and free up oodles of time for homemakers, she thought she could come up with something better that kinda-sorta existed. She designed racks and baskets to hold dishes and cups as well as water/suds stream that would wash all dishes. However, this was 1885 (when her patent was approved) and she was a woman. She went to the World's Fair in 1893 in which the dishwashing machine made a real splash! 🫧 This didn't mean it was an easy path from there. She had to have courage to sell her dishwashing machine to hotels, restaurants, even when she was encouraged to resign from her own company because of her gender. She showed perseverance, innovation, and strength to keep going. She is a real inspiration.

The book also includes a timeline of inventions and a list of women inventors/entrepreneurs.

Thanks to Astra Publishing and Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy and the opportunity to review it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Astra Publishing for the ARC of this!

I love sharing biographies of influential women with my kids, especially if it’s someone I’ve never heard of and get to learn about alongside them. This had an art style that wasn’t my favorite, but wasn’t bad, and I overall found the story of her inventions interesting. It seemed to gloss over the privilege that Josephine seemed to posses and only focused on the trials that she persevered through.

This book was so great as a learning opportunity for my kids! We loved all the illustrations and the story about Josephine being inventive and creative in a time when that wasn't something women were really supposed to be doing.

"The woman of the future will have the memory of Josephine Garis Cochrane in grateful remembrance. It was she who invented the machine which has set woman free from the most slavish and disgusting task of housekeeping--dishwashing." - The Daily Picayune, April 2, 1892

Josephine was a modern woman who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, but she wanted to be doing things other than washing endless dishes. It was a time of invention, and her father and grandfather had invented things themselves. She was convinced that there had to be another way. She measured, tinkered, tested, refined, and rethought until it started to work. Over time, she gets her patent, takes her invention to a world's fair, and started a factor. All along, when she encountered trouble, she would also say "there has to be a better way" and finds it to make the world a little better every day.

I love the highlights from other inventors. It talks about Thomas Edison and Alexander Grahm Bell, but it also highlights Margaret E. Knight and Sarah E. Goode, took women who, just like Josephine, aren't often remembered for their achievements. The historical quotes are small but lovely details that are added naturally, and the author's note at the end talks about the challenges Josephine would have faced as a woman in an environment where women were not permitted or welcome.

This positive book is a wonderful way to inspire young children to invent solutions, get things done, and never give up, no matter how hard things get.

What a great book for empowering young inventors! This story of Josephine Cochrane is approachable in that is tells her story of inventing and improving the dishwasher without overwhelming the reader with thick text and without leaving out important information. The book also does a great job of showing the reader the world that Josephine lived in during that time period, the struggles she faced with her gender, and what she was up against at the patent office in the age of inventing.

Perfect for the classroom! This book tells the story behind something many of us use daily and likely without even reading the story of the woman who invented it — the dishwasher! I love that this book will introduce children to female inventors. Inventors is plural because it includes a section noting other great inventors. The illustrations were also beautiful.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me access to this ahead of publication!
I'm already a huge fan of the biographical picture book publication trend going on - and so are all the primary students - and this one is a great addition to it! I had no idea that the inventor of the dishwasher was a woman and neither did any of my students but they are already excited to read her story once it comes into our collection. Well explained without being too technical and well illustrated, a great way to tell the story of Josephine and her invention. I also loved the author's note at the end with the list of other important inventions by women!

3.5 Stars ( I received an e-arc from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review)

This was a cute graphic novel and very educational, I had never known the story behind such an essential machine. As well we see how determined Josephine is to keep improving on her design, which became the foundation for how the dishwasher works. The end of the book includes a list of interesting inventions, mostly ones created by woman.

Josephine and Her Dishwashing Machine by Kate Hannigan with illustrations by Sarah Green has delighted me. My latest readings have been about women who changed the world and when I discovered this illustrated book, with her biography and so well detailed, I wanted to read it. Also, with the author's note, her story complements her story perfectly.
I don't know why I was surprised to learn that Josephine Garis Cochrane was the inventor of the dishwasher, as a man would not make it so easy and simple.
I admired her tenacity, her willpower and her stubbornness. I believe that without these virtues she would not have got as far as she did.

Josephine Garis Cochrane was intelligent and realised that if her achievements were not patented... they could be appropriated by anyone.
Narrated almost as if it were a fairy tale, this picture book has made me know the good and the bad of this inventor who changed the lives of millions of women and households.
I am angry with myself, as I had never heard of Josephine and had no idea of the origin of this household appliance.
Maybe because I'm used to seeing it and it's an everyday thing, I didn't take it into account.

It reads in a heartbeat and you are curious about how she will come out of the storms or the bad things that have happened in her life.
Tireless and perfectionist. I think those were two of her greatest qualities, as she never gave up and if she did, she disguised it perfectly.
We forget people too quickly and thanks to Kate Hannigan and Sarah Green I have been able to discover someone who, if she had been given more wings, I think she would have invented more things.
So, I won't tell you much in detail, but I encourage you to get to know her life and get to know her. You will fall in love with her.

This picture biography shares the little-known story of the female inventor and entrepreneur who invented and marketed the first dishwashers. The story is well-paced and engaging, showing how Josephine Cochrane persevered through her challenges to create a successful new product that has bettered many lives. At the end of the book, there is an author's note with additional information, a list of various notable female inventors, and a timeline of many major inventions. This book is an excellent choice for schools, homes, and libraries, and I appreciate how it incorporates important themes about women's rights without being preachy.

I love reading stories about female inventors to my class. Having not known anything about the invention of the washing machine, this was a fun and interesting read. It provides just enough information without being too technical. The illustrations match the story beautifully. I love the added extra in the back of the book to learn about other females and a timeline of inventions from that time period. A must add to any classroom library.

Review to come March on blog/goodreads.

I received this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange of an honest review~

I saw this book and knew I wanted to read it. I had no clue who invented the Dishwashing Machine, so I was eager to read all about this inventor and see how they came to the idea of it! 

In this book we learn all about a woman named Josephine Garis Cochrane. A woman who was already being kick-ass and then decided to invent something for the dishes. She noticed that a lot of her dishes were chipped, cracked, or otherwise damaged. Well, girl, I am not sure how you do your dishes, but um, sure, sometimes things get dinged or crack, but that is generally not happening during the washing. What do you do with it? Throw it in? XD But OK, thanks to her terrible skills (and probably someone who helps with the cleaning) she decides to make a machine that makes the dishes clean. We see her work hard to make a prototype, and I loved that she had help from someone with the more mechanical parts, someone who thought her idea was brilliant. And I loved that despite some bad things happening (her husband dying) she kept on trying. Kept her head up and kept going for it. I loved seeing the machine change and get better with each new version. I loved that people were enthusiastic about it. It was really interesting and I just couldn't stop reading.

Bonus points to some cute puppers! Love it! 

I am really happy with a dishwasher. Never had one until I moved to this house 3 years ago, it was already installed in the kitchen. Thankfully. Otherwise we would probably still be washing by hand. As I have been doing all my life, and still do for my smaller dishes. I do think it is funny how the book made it seem like so many people have one in their homes. But my parents didn't and I didn't know anyone who had one when I was younger. And no, we weren't poor. Maybe it is an American thing? Maybe in America most people have one? I don't know. I just thought it stood out. 

The art was really pretty, I loved the style. 

All in all, a very interesting book about the dishwasher and the inventor of it + I loved the extra bonus bits~ I would recommend it and hope that there will be more books like this.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
This book is written for younger readers, about middle grade. This book is about the invention of the dishwasher and the woman who made it. The book covers Josephine's life and the difficulties she faced.
I think that the book did a good job telling about Josephine, however, they leave out the contribution of her partner that helped her in the early years of developing the dishwasher. I also did not like the way the extra information was presented in the end. The list of notable inventions did not make much sense when the book seemed to be trying to highlight female inventors.

"Few patent holders wore petticoats."

This is a great and interesting story of Josephine Cochrane, the inventor of the first dishwashing machine in the late 19th century. I didn't know who she was before but I'm glad to have learned from this book! I read a bit more about her after I finished the book and saw where her brand was merged with KitchenAid after her death. Such a great telling of a brilliant woman and the illustrations are fantastic as well!

Thanks to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book focuses on Josephine Cochrane and how she invented the dishwasher. I loved that this book focused on other inventions that led the way to Josephine's idea and what started her belief that she could make something better than what was currently being done. I love how this story did not just tell about Cochrane's success but also the hurdles she had to jump to get there, from budget to self-doubt. This would be an excellent book for anyone looking to be encouraged or a little one learning about overcoming obstacles.