Wood, Wire, Wings!

Wood, Wire, Wings: Emma Lilian Todd Invents an Airplane 
by Kirsten W. Larson; illus, by Tracy Subisak
48 pages; ages 7 - 10
Calkins Creek, 2020

theme: flight, invention, women in science

To Emma Lilian Todd, problems were like gusts of wind: they set her mind soaring.

Lilian grew up in a family of innovators, during the golden age of invention. While Grandpa worked on a carriage wheel, Lilian created her own things: a weather vane from a broken toy. She took things apart and put them back together – and sometimes they never worked quite right afterwards…

But invention wasn’t for women. So Lilian took a job at the U.S. Patent Office, typing up other people’s inventions. Fascinated by plans for flying machines, she built models and tested them. The designs weren’t very practical. So Lilian decided to build her own airplane.

What I like about this book: I like that Kirsten shows the journey from idea to success is not a straight line. When Lilian tests her first designs – they crash. Failure! But Lilian persisted. She knew she was on to something. I like how Kirsten includes the practical side of invention: Lilian needs space and money to construct a plane. Finally she gets it built, fires up the engine and … goes nowhere. Failure! But now Lilian knows what went wrong. All she needs is a better engine – one she’ll have to wait for a year to get.

I like the back matter: an author’s note about inventions and more about Lilian Todd, a timeline of flying machines, historic photos, and sources for readers who want to deep dive into more history about planes.

One Question for Kirsten:

Archimedes: What inspired you to write this story?

Kirsten: One of my StoryStorm ideas was “Rosie the Riveter.” I went through my story ideas in early 2014, and checked out a slew of books on the topic, including Rosie Revere, Engineer, by Andrea Beaty, illustrated by David Roberts. The name of Lilian Todd and a note that she was the first female airplane designer appeared in one of David’s illustrations. Though I’d lived and worked around airplanes my whole life, I’d never heard of Lilian. Neither had my husband, who’s a test pilot and aviation history buff. I knew Lilian’s story was one I needed to tell.

Thank you, Kirsten. Kirsten is a member of #STEAMTeam2020 - find out more about her at her website.

Beyond the Books:

Read about Lilian and four other women who helped push the aviation industry forward

Check out some photos of Lilian’s airplane here.

Download an educators guide from Kirsten Larson's website.

We’ll join Perfect Picture Book Friday in a couple weeks -  once the Valentine story contest ends. PPBF is a gathering of bloggers who share their reviews of picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Charlie Numbers celebrates Science and Diversity

Tomorrow is Multicultural Children's Book Day. So I'm taking the opportunity to share a novel that includes not only a diversity of characters, but a strong STEM component. If you are a fan of the TV series "Scorpion" (or the older "Numbers"), this will appeal to you.

Charlie Numbers and the Man in the Moon
by Ben and Tonya Mezrich
208 pages; ages 8-12
Simon & Schuster, 2017

Charlie Numbers is a smart kid. Fortunately he's got a gang of like-minded friends who, by banding together, manage to survive the hassles and bullying that middle school life can bring. We meet them in the early chapters, where they are hurrying to finish a project for school that involves baking soda and vinegar. And no, it's not a volcano.
Design
When Charlie is approached by a man and woman who say they are from NASA, he is intrigued. They need a favor - and in the process he and his friends get drafted to compete in a national paper airplane contest at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Soon Charlie and his friends find themselves caught in a mystery filled with corporate espionage and lots and lots of calculations regarding lift, thrust, resistance, and gravity.

In addition to the science, math, and engineering that are essential to the plot and fabric of this book, there is a fun cast of wonderfully diverse characters who make up the Whiz Kids. Charlie is a numbers guy who has never done anything practical like paper airplanes. Crystal is passionate about geology, Kentaro is a linguistics genius, Marion  is an artist, and Jeremy has mad math skills.

What I like about the book - in addition to the STEM that is woven through every aspect of the story - is the understanding that we work better when we work together. Teamwork is vital to solving engineering problems, even if it is paper airplane engineering, and a team with diverse skills and personalities brings more to the group - at least that's my opinion.

Author Tonya Mezrich graciously answered a couple questions about the writing process. Turns out she's been helping Ben behind the scenes as a researcher for his other books....and when I asked about inspiration for this book, she confessed that Indiana Jones may have played a part.

authors Ben and Tonya Mezrich

Tonya: We were both fans (of Indiana Jones) and loved to imagine kids solving mysteries in the same exciting action-packed way. Another inspiration is Encyclopedia Brown and Harry Potter. We love the idea of creating a modern day Encyclopedia Brown with kids solving mysteries in today's settings. We also love the magic element of Harry Potter. For Charlie, math and science is his magic.

Archimedes: What makes a book "multicultural" and how does that relate to your book?

Tonya: Our book has a strong Asian character, Kentaro, who is integral in solving the mystery. I am Asian and was always faced with the typical stereotype that I should be good at math and science. (note: Tonya is... she's a dentist!) I didn't want to portray Kentaro that way, so we had his skill set based on words and spelling. He is a Scrabble whiz - and also graces the cover of our book. We've gotten great feedback from the multicultural community about it, which has come as a pleasant surprise.

Tonya and Ben focused on paper airplanes for this book because they are something that any kid can make. Try their design for the super fast dart - and let me know if you have better luck sailing it than I do! Maybe my folds aren't crisp enough, but my plane keeps nosediving.

On Monday we'll be hanging out on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle - so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by author.



A little more about Multicultural Children's Book Day:  It was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump into a Book and Mia Wenjen from PragmaticMom. The mission of MCBD is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids' books that celebrate diversity on home and school bookshelves, while also working to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.

MCBD has 28 Medallion level sponsors and 47 Author sponsors. The event relies on their impressive CoHost Team for hosting the book review link-up and spreading word of this event. Drop by the Multicultural Children's Book Day website for fabulous resources including free books for teachers and a free classroom empathy kit for homeschoolers, teachers, and others.

Remember to connect with MCBD on social media with #ReadYourWorld

To the Stars!

Before we head off To the Stars, a brief announcement. Traci is the winner of the Sea Turtle book. Traci - if you haven't emailed me your address, please do. (a click on the blogger icon beneath my name will get you to my profile page with email connection)
now... buckle up and prepare for Take Off.

To the Stars! The First American Woman to Walk in Space

by Carmella Van Vleet  & Dr. Kathy Sullivan; illus. by Nicole Wong

40 pages; ages 5-8

Charlesbridge, 2016

Theme: science, space, exploration, women

“Kathy Sullivan loved to explore.”

When her father brings home blueprints of airplanes, she studies their lines and curves. She daydreamed about flying, and when people asked, she told them that when she grew up she wanted to see the whole world. And she did – becoming the first woman to walk in space.

What I like about this book: It portrays a little girl who wants to be an adventurer and see the world at a time when girls were expected to grow up to be mothers or teachers or nurses. I like the way that pairs of spreads alternate, showing Kathy as a girl and in the next spread as a grown woman facing the same questions and problems. For example: a wonderful illustration of her as a teenager in the cockpit, learning to pilot a plane. “There were so many dials and buttons and numbers.” The next spread shows Kathy as an astronaut studying another (much larger) instrument panel.

There is great back matter including a note from Kathy, additional biographical material, and “American Women Firsts in NASA History”.

Beyond the book: everyone has dreams. What’s your dream; what do you want to do when you grow up?

Visit an airport to watch planes take off and land. Some airports have an observation tower where you can sit and watch, or a special parking lot for plane-watching. See if there’s a children’s museum where you can sit in the cockpit of a plane or space ship.

Visit the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian if you have a chance – or check out the photos of aircraft they have at their website.  Or find one closer to where you  live.

Today's review is part of the STEM Friday roundup. Drop by STEM Friday blog for more science books and resources.  We're also joining PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy provided by the publisher. 

Flight Plans - make a helicopter

One of the fun things I do as a volunteer at Ithaca's Sciencenter is build helicopters with kids - and parents, grandparents, teachers.... everyone loves to make 'em. So I thought to go along with my review of Explore Flight! over at STEM Friday, that I'd share some helicopter flying here.

According to historians, kids have been playing with helicopter toys for the past 2500 years. All you need is a blade attached to a stem; give it a good rub and set it spinning. In the 1480s, Leonardo daVinci created a design for an "aerial screw" - and in 1906 French inventor Paul Cornu built a machine with 20-foot rotors powered by a small engine. It lifted him a foot off the ground and kept him there for 20 seconds.

Our helicopters won't have engines; they're more "helicopter-gliders". The spinning blades provide enough lift to slow its descent. And since it's a vertical flier, it only goes one direction: down.

Start with a template - this is the one we use for the kids and you can find a downloadable version from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. You'll need a few items:

• scissors
• ruler
• paper
• paperclips
• pencil

Cut along solid lines. Then fold sections A & B along the dotted lines, and fold up the bottom to keep the "stem" from unfolding when you fly. Bend the blades (D & E) with one folded towards you and one away. Then try flying your 'copter. Hm-m-m... I wonder if a paper clip might help it fly better?

When you drop your helicopter, it pushes the air that's around it out of its way. The air pushes the blades into a slanted position (drop it again and watch closely). According to the folks at the Exploratorium,  the air under one blade pushes one way and the air under the other blade pushes the opposite direction. Those two forces push the blade around and make it spin.


So what happens if you angle the blades? Put a bend in them?
What happens if you make a 'copter with blades that are twice as long? Or twice as wide?
What if you cut jagged edges on the blades or make them rounded?
 What if you have one blade fatter or longer than the other?
What if you make 3 blades? or 4?
What if you add more weight to the stem?

Be a helicopter engineer today! Ask questions! Have fun!

And remember to head over to the STEM Friday round-up to see what other people are posting.

Watching Things that Fly (through Binoculars)

Bird-watchers always seem to have a pair of binoculars hanging from their neck. Why not bug-watchers? There's a field guide for watching dragonflies through binoculars - with a pretty easy-to-remember title: Dragonflies through Binoculars, by Sidney Dunkle (2000, Oxford U. Press). It begins with lots of good info about dragonflies, how to identify, effects of temperature on them, and more. Then has detailed descriptions of dragonflies in North America and a checklist. But my favorite part is the sections of wonderful color photos.

It's a wonderful guide, and such a nifty idea that Oxford U Press published Butterflies Through Binoculars (Western North America) by Jeffrey Glassberg the following year.

No field guide to bees through binoculars yet. Nor beetles. But you don't need a field guide. This summer take a few minutes to watch the world of flying things through a pair of binoculars. What do you learn about these summer fliers? How do butterfly wings compare to beetle wings? What sort of flight patterns can you find?

If you spend some time watching dragonflies this summer, consider becoming a  "citizen scientist" to collect information for Dragonfly Pond Watch.Friday!  Check out more STEM Friday books and resources here.