Whirligigs

September 1, 2024

PreS-Gr 4-On a North Carolina farm, a young boy named (1919-2013) loved tinkering and fixing things; he grew up to become an inventor. He created a wind-powered washing machine, turned a bike into a motorcycle, and ran a machine repair shop. After getting injured in his 60s, Simpson needed a hobby and chose to turn spare parts and scrap metal into giant windmills. Eventually, his windmill-filled farm became a tourist attraction. Due to high demand, Simpson started making and selling mini windmills, which appeared at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and outside the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore. When he grew too old to care for the windmills, the town bought 30 of them and placed them in a park named after him. Back matter includes an author's note, a bibliography, and a song that would be fun at a read-aloud. The length of the text makes it an entertaining story for even young children, and the illustrations are colorful and whimsical. VERDICT A wonderful addition to any library collection.-Kirsten Caldwell

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2024
The ultimate "fix-it man" builds a mechanical, whimsical windmill farm. As a child in North Carolina, Vollis Simpson (1919-2013) "was fixing things before he could read." He joined the Army during World War II and created a wind-powered washing machine with parts from a B-29 bomber. Once home, he ran a machine-repair shop, where he continued to tinker into his 60s. After he closed the shop, a dream inspired him to create a series of unusual mechanical windmills using scrap metal, gears, and chains--towers that "turned and whizzed." Vollis constructed animals, airplanes, and guitar players to inhabit his towers, using junk like bike wheels, broken silverware, mirrors, and chimes. His colorful machines--whirligigs--attracted tourists and schoolchildren, and when Simpson's health prevented him from maintaining his "noisemaking mechanical marvels," they were moved to different sites, including the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. 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, with busy images piling one on top of the other, replicating pinwheel shapes, fast-moving action lines and dots, and splashes of onomatopoeic words likethud, thonk, andboing, boing. Today, according to Weatherford's author note, Simpson's whirligigs sit in a North Carolina park dedicated to his work. Simpson is white; other characters are pictured with a variety of skin tones. This illuminating biography of a mechanic-turned-folk-artist brings his whirligigs to clanking, stirring life. (author's note, bibliography, archival photos, song lyrics for "Vollis Simpson's Windmill Farm")(Picture-book biography. 7-10)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 15, 2024
Grades K-3 A whirligig, a wind-powered contraption often made out of random objects, is a thing of wonder. Imagine an entire park filled with spinning whirligigs offering inspiration for young artists, sculptors, and engineers. Vollis Simpson grew up on a farm and was, from early childhood through running his own machine repair shop as an adult, always tinkering, fixing, and improving vehicles and appliances. An injury led to early retirement and boredom. That's when he started repurposing other people's junk and began fashioning fantastic little machines that eventually evolved into whirligigs. His inventions got bigger and more ambitious, and tourists and schoolkids started coming to see his creations. Despite off-site commissions (the Atlanta Olympics, the Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore), his whirligigs eventually overwhelmed his property. Local officials came to the rescue, and now there's a museum and whirligig park in Wilson, North Carolina, honoring Simpson. 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.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 2, 2024
Vollis Simpson (1919–2013) grew up on a North Carolina farm “fixing things before he could read,” writes Boston Weatherford. When an injury in his 60s forced him to close his successful machine-repair shop, he was as “bored as a two-by-four,” until his next chapter came to him in a dream. He would create whirligigs—kinetic, windmill-like sculptures fashioned from scrap and salvaged material. Digital art by Fotheringham conveys the giddy feel of an amusement park or funhouse to images of the inventions, which pop with playful textures, candy colors, and punctuations of onomatopoeia (“BANG, BONK, THUD, THONK”). Lauded by schoolchildren, tourists, and visionary
art connoisseurs alike, the whirligigs today live in an outdoor gallery. Offering an opportunity to appreciate the boundlessness of human creativity, it’s 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.” Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note and photographs conclude. Ages 7–10.

January 1, 2025
"On a North Carolina farm, massive towers with moving parts spin and sound in the breeze. Did space aliens create these contraptions?" 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." The narrative shows how his childhood interest in the mechanics of objects established his career path: "Vollis aimed to make machines work better." Illustrations add to the down-home feel of the story while helping readers visualize some of Simpson's more original improvements, such as a wind-powered washing machine invented during WWII using parts from a downed B-29 bomber. An injury in his sixties forces Simpson to close his machine-repair shop and ultimately propels him, "bored as a two by four," to begin making the colorful whirligig windmills that will become his legacy. 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"). Julie Roach

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2025
"On a North Carolina farm, massive towers with moving parts spin and sound in the breeze. Did space aliens create these contraptions?" 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." The narrative shows how his childhood interest in the mechanics of objects established his career path: "Vollis aimed to make machines work better." Illustrations add to the down-home feel of the story while helping readers visualize some of Simpson's more original improvements, such as a wind-powered washing machine invented during WWII using parts from a downed B-29 bomber. An injury in his sixties forces Simpson to close his machine-repair shop and ultimately propels him, "bored as a two by four," to begin making the colorful whirligig windmills that will become his legacy. 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").

(Copyright 2025 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)