A definite success, this quickly takes us through the life of a young Thomas Edison (mostly here called Al, due to his middle name), and shows us how he managed to experiment here, there and everywhere – partly inspired by a wannabe balloonist down the road, and then principally by his mother. It's amazing to think his thousand-plus patents are partly down to her, and to him surviving a youthful test to see what a fire in a haybarn might do, and a time when his job selling newspapers to train passengers meant he was fixing up a lab in the baggage cabin.

This side of his history is great, and the visuals look wonderful – the achievements of Kristina Gehrmann are crucial to the book. So it does feel a touch odd that the moral of the piece is one more successfully directed to the adults amongst us – that nobody should be forsaken just because he has an inquisitive mind you find insufferable, and that nobody should be ignored just because her way of proving themselves, or showing their light within, is counter to yours. But second to that is the admirable, and of course aspirational, story of Edison – if anything like the same is allowed now health and safety have been invented, we might be able to see the sparks of our future in the young minds around us. A strong four stars.

A wonderful biography story for young readers to be introduced to Thomas Alva Edison. I even learned things about him I didn't know -- as an adult reader! The illustrations are lovely. Would definitely recommend this book. And I'm interested in finding more titles in this series!

This ARC had perfect timing! I was just using a story of Thomas Edison for a literature lesson….now I can add this to my classroom library!
This book tells the story of Thomas Edison, beginning when he was a child. There were many facts presented that I didn’t know, and I love when I can learn new things from children’s books!

What a wonderful book! The story of Thomas Edison's early life is often skipped over when telling children of his inventions and crew of inventors and engineers. This book delves into the source of Edison's creativity and how his early life shaped his ideas (and his stubbornness). The illustrations are wonderful as well, giving the reader a greater understanding of the timeline by showing Edison's growth, physically and mentally, through this early-life story.

The Unexpected Light of Thomas Alva Edison is honestly one of the best kids books on a historical figure that I've seen recently. I would definitely recommend it for young readers.

The illustrations are what make this book a fun read. The story itself is great too though! I liked how it centered on his younger years. Some books on Edison that are for children tend to be more about his adult life and his many inventions. This book shows how Edison was as a child and the influence his parents, especially his mother, had on him. It was interesting to read about some of his first experiments and how they went wrong. There is a mention of him getting spanked over something he did wrong that seemed a bit out of place. I'm sure he got in trouble but didn't think that fit to well with what the writer was trying to show. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am spreading the word that it is worth having a copy of. Especially for children who enjoy Science or experiments or who are wanting to learn more about Edisons growing up years.

The Unexpected Light of Thomas Alva Edison shows the curiosity and experiments that created the genius inventor many are familiar with. I loved the angle of showing Edison's family life and the faith his mother had in him. Where the world saw a misfit, she saw brilliance. This book had such a clever way of being relatable to kids. It was a delight for my biography-loving kiddo, and it brought tears to my mama eyes. Highly recommend.

Thank you to Zonderkidz and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy for me to review! We loved it.