Whirligigs: The Wondrous Windmills of Vollis Simpson’s Imagination

PreS-Gr 4–On a North Carolina farm, a young boy named Vollis Simpson (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.