“How are inventions made?/ Is it really hard to do?/ To think of something people need/ that’s different and brand-new?” Combining fun, fanciful rhyming verses and colorful cartoony illustrations, this lively, lighthearted book looks at how 14 familiar items were created, including potato chips, piggy banks, eyeglasses, and animal crackers. It isn’t only the inventions that are imaginative; the author clearly takes some liberties with the stories, but she also provides plenty of basic facts in a highly entertaining way.