Wood, Wire, Wings

Praise

A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year
NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book
NSTA Best STEM Book List

“A heroine of the skies is given her due….(a) person who disappeared into history after adding to the knowledge of the era, Todd is resurrected here as a role model who can provide encouragement and inspiration by virtue of her single-minded dedication and resilience…(e)nergetic, thoughtful text punctuated by Todd’s own words and Subisak’s inventive, warmly outlined full-color illustrations follow her life….(c)elebrates its subject’s resilience as much as her contributions to STEM and aeronautics.” —Kirkus Reviews

“In tribute to the hands-on spirit of all inventors— but especially women—Larson profiles a little-known, self-taught engineer who designed a working aircraft that improved upon the Wright brothers’ model. In windswept digital watercolors, Subisak depicts her as an active, confident figure. Back matter… includes a comprehensive source list and a general time line of aviation in the Wright era. Todd herself was not a pilot, but her story pairs naturally with those about the first generations of female aviators.” —Booklist

“While the Wright brothers are known for inventing the first airplane, another inventor wanted to make the design of the airplane more practical. Emma Lilian Todd, sparked by curiosity to tinker, engineer, and invent even as a child, worked to build her own airplane. The illustrations give life to this narrative nonfiction account of Todd’s upbringing and her thirst for solving problems through prototyping. Quotations … are sprinkled throughout the narrative, providing insight into Todd’s creative process. This inspiring work shines a light on a lesser-known inventor who was the first woman to design an airplane.” —School Library Journal

“Persistence in the face of repeated failures is a recurring theme in this book about Todd, a little-known pioneer in early-20th-century aviation design. Todd’s childhood love of tinkering…serves her well in her adult quest to design a working airplane. Todd’s plucky perseverance appeals, and Subisak’s cheerily cluttered loose-lined illustrations conjure a world of patent diagrams, dreams, experimental machines, and grit.” —Publishers Weekly