The Inventor's Secret ─ What Thomas Edison Told Henry Ford

Both Thomas Edison and Henry Ford started off as insatiably curious tinkerers. That curiosity led them to become inventors—with very different results. As Edison invented hit after commercial hit, gaining fame and fortune, Henry struggled to make a single invention (an affordable car) work. Witnessing Thomas's glorious career from afar, a frustrated Henry wondered about the secret to his success.

This little-known story is a fresh, kid-friendly way to show how Thomas Edison and Henry Ford grew up to be the most famous inventors in the world—and best friends, too.

Suzanne Slade loves finding out how things work. A former mechanical engineer, she once worked on Delta IV rockets and automotive brake systems. Now a full-time author, she has written more than one hundred children's books, includingFriends for Freedom: The Story of Susan B. Anthony & Frederick Douglass andThe House That George Built. Suzanne lives near Chicago, where she writes from home on her favorite invention—a laptop computer.

Jennifer Black Reinhardt is fascinated by the stories behind old objects. While researching this book, she studied the Victorian clothing and furnishings in her collection of antique photographs--and fell in love with fancy borders. Jennifer is the illustrator of Rabbi Benjamin's Buttons and The Adventures of a South Pole Pig (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). She could not have illustrated this book without the invention of the lightbulb.