{"product_id":"whirligigs-isbn-9781662680410","title":"Whirligigs","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e2025 Best STEM Book Winner\u003cbr\u003e2025 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTake a journey through the creative process that led folk artist Vollis Simpson to create his wonderful and whimsical wind-powered whirligigs and more in this STEAM\/STEM picture book written by Children's Literature Legacy Award winner Carole Boston Weatherford. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVollis 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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter 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.\u003cb\u003eA Bank Street Best Book 2025\u003cbr\u003eA NSTA-CBC Best STEM Book\u003cbr\u003e2025 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Weatherford conveys the joyful obsession and dedication that fueled Simpson’s creative endeavors. Fotheringham’s cheerful, cartoonish illustrations capture the energy of Simpson’s work… This illuminating biography of a mechanic-turned-folk-artist brings his whirligigs to clanking, stirring life.”—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"Offering an opportunity to appreciate the boundlessness of human creativity, [\u003ci\u003eWhirligigs\u003c\/i\u003e] is a story about a figure who refused to call himself an artist, saying what mattered most was to 'wake up every day and have to do something with my hands.'” —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"The length of the text makes it an entertaining story for even young children, and the illustrations are colorful and whimsical. A wonderful addition to any library collection.\" \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—School Library Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A whirligig, a wind-powered contraption often made out of random objects, is a thing of wonder… This engaging story moves along at a good clip, and the whimsical illustrations in bright primary colors effectively evoke energy and movement. This makes a great addition for STEAM collections”.—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“At the opening of this picture-book biography, a tangle of colors and shapes and a burst of visual onomatopoeia (‘WHIRR, CREEEAK. Plink, plink’) introduce readers to the plucky machinist and inventor Vollis Simpson (1919–2013) and his ‘whirligigs’... color and sound (“Whistle, Whir, BOING, BOING”) keep the story energetic and busy to match the spirit of its subject, and the illustrations become ever more fanciful as Simpson’s windmill farm grows. Back matter includes an author’s note, a bibliography, and the lyrics to ‘Vollis Simpson’s Windmill Farm’ (to the tune of ‘Old MacDonald).”\u003ci\u003e—\u003cb\u003eThe Horn Book\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Kids will love reading about (Vollis Simpson), and the book is full of color and excitement for his creations. The digital art puts the giant, boldly colored contraptions front and center and the descriptive text incorporates onomatopoeia and even a song. An author’s note, bibliography and photos augment the text. This would be a fun read aloud for early grade art classes. Kids will learn that creativity can happen at any age and with any materials.\"—\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eYouth Services Book Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Carole Boston Weatherford’s 60-plus books include the Caldecott Honor book \u003ci\u003eUnspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre\u003c\/i\u003e, for which she was also awarded the Coretta Scott King Author Award and a Sibert Honor; the Newbery Honor winner \u003ci\u003eBox\u003c\/i\u003e; and the Caldecott Honor winners \u003ci\u003eFreedom in Congo Square\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFannie Lou Hamer\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMoses\u003c\/i\u003e. She won a Coretta Scott King Author Honor for \u003ci\u003eBecoming Billie Holiday\u003c\/i\u003e. Weatherford teaches composition and children's literature at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEdwin Fotheringham is the award-winning illustrator of many picture book biographies, including \u003ci\u003eFull of Beans\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBlue Grass Boy\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eDazzlin’ Dolly\u003c\/i\u003e. His work has received the Parents' Choice Gold Award, been named an NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book, and more. He is also the illustrator of the Tony Baloney series by Pam Muñoz Ryan.","brand":"Calkins Creek","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301247045861,"sku":"NP9781662680410","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781662680410.jpg?v=1767744111","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/whirligigs-isbn-9781662680410","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}