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Thursday, July 18, 2019

Goode rises from slavery to win patent for cabinet bed




Sweet Dreams, Sarah
Written by Vivian Kirkfield and illustrated by Chris Ewald
Creston Books, LLC, 2019

Sarah E. Goode was born into slavery, but she later built furniture and became one of the first African American women to win a U.S. patent. 

When Sarah was a slave, she dreamed of a better life. Her father was a carpenter, and she thought she could build furniture, too, one day.

After the Civil War ended and the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, Sarah moved to Chicago with her family.

Later, she married a kind stair-builder named Archibald Goode. They started a family and rented out rooms in their house.

Sarah saved as much as she could because she wanted to open a furniture store. Finally, she and Archibald opened a store. They sold furniture that they had built.



She kept hearing her customers complain about how crowded their homes were. They worked at low-paying jobs and could afford only one-room apartments.

Sarah got the idea to make a bed that folded up when it wasn’t being used. That way families would be able to give their children their own beds.

She worked at it and worked at it, and finally built a bed that folded out of the cabinet doors of a desk: a cabinet bed.

Getting the patent wasn’t easy. The first time she applied for one, it was denied. Her idea wasn’t different enough from other similar inventions. She rewrote her application to explain how her cabinet bed was unique.

This time she won the patent: the S.E. Goode cabinet bed, awarded July 14, 1885.



Kirfield's picture book biography tells Goode's inspiring story in a simple way for young readers. Chris Ewald's full-page illustrations in warm browns bring the story to life.

About the Author



Vivian Kirkfield has written several picture books: "Passover Plate" (Holiday House); "Four Otters Toboggan: An Animal Counting Book" (Pomegranate); "Making Their Voices Heard: The Inspiring Friendship of Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe" (Little Bee Books, January 14, 2020); and "From Here to There: Inventions That Changed the Way the World Moves" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, fall 2020). She is a retired kindergarten teacher with a master’s degree in early childhood education. She lives in Amherst, NH.


About the Illustrator



Chris Ewald has illustrated several picture books. He also works in games and animation. He studied art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. He lives in Austin, TX.




1 comment:

  1. Thank you so very much, Elizabeth for this lovely review of Sweet Dreams, Sarah! I'm so happy you enjoyed reading it and I appreciate you sharing it with your followers.I loved Chris' palette the moment I saw the illustrations...I agree that his warm browns and yellows are perfect. And thank you for sharing the review on your social media...that means the world to me!

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