The Wondrous Windmills of Vollis Simpson's Imagination
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Calkins Creek
(Astra Books for Young Readers)
(pub. 11.12.2024)
32 pages
Ages 7 -10
Author: Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrator: Edwin Fotheringham
Character: Vollis Simpson
Overview for Review of The Fabulous Fannie Farmer:
" Vollis Simpson was a man with a curious mind—always eager to know how things worked and how to fix them. Growing up on a farm in North Carolina, he loved to tinker with machines. And when he served in the Army Air Corps during WWII, Vollis kept right on tinkering. His ingenuity allowed him to build things no one would have thought to create from scraps—a washing machine out of airplane parts and a motorcycle out of a bike.
After the war, his passion for metal creations picked up speed—turning into a whirlwind of windmills as far as the eye could see. Luckily, Vollis’s fanciful and colorful windmills have been preserved at a park in Wilson, NC, where visitors can behold his magnificent and towering creations forever whizzing in the air.."
Tantalizing taste:
"Vollis made birds, dogs, horses,
airplanes, cyclists, lumberjacks,
and a guitar player inspired by his son.
With fan blades catching the wind,
bike wheels revolving,
mirrors and reflectors beaming,
and chimes tinkling,
Vollis's noisemaking, mechanical marvels
put little Lucama on the map.
CLINK-PLINK-WHOOSH-SCREEE!"`
And something more: The author, Carole Boston Weatherford, shared in the Author's Note: "When Vollis Simpson began building whirly gigs at age 65, the locals thought he was wacky but his windmill farm in North Carolina became a roadside attraction, amusing and amazing travelers and school children alike.… Simpson created four whirly gigs for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta… the whirly gigs have been named North Carolina's official folk art."
Comments