Thursday, August 21, 2014

Mr. Ferris and his Wheel by Kathryn Davis - ADVISABLE

Davis, Kathryn Gibbs Mr. Ferris and his Wheel, illustrated by Gilbert Ford.  PICTURE BOOK.  Houghton Mifflin, 2014.  $18.  

The Chicago World’s Fair was set to open and there was nothing yet planned to compete with the wonder of the previous fair in France with its Eiffel Tower.  When Mr. Ferris proposed his Monster Wheel, the organizers allowed him to build it - without any monetary help from them, because they were sure it would fall to the ground.  Mr. Ferris’ Wheel became the highlight of a fair filled with wonder and inspiration.

Mechanical wonders are so commonplace now, children don't have any idea how experimental and scary the ideas used to be.  Not just for young students, this would be a good book to pair with Going up! : Elisha Otis's Trip to the Top, a story of an early elevator in any class with engineers.

EL, MS - ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher

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