Title: The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind
Author: William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
Illustrator: Elizabeth Zunon
Genre: Nonfiction
Awards: N/A
Ages: 2nd+
Summary:
This picture book follows the life William Kamkwamba who lived in a Malawi village that was suffering from severe drought. Without rain their crops died and food and money became scarce. William had to help his father with work and had to drop out of school, until he remembered the library where he could read and study science books. He learned about windmills and how they can be used to make electricity and pump water. William collected junk and parts from the trash to try and create a windmill even though people thought he was crazy. With the help of his cousin and friend he was able to finish his windmill and use wires to connect the mill to light bulbs which worked! People rejoiced and they began building windmills all over the country to help light the darkness and pump water to the crops.
Awards: N/A
Ages: 2nd+
Summary:
This picture book follows the life William Kamkwamba who lived in a Malawi village that was suffering from severe drought. Without rain their crops died and food and money became scarce. William had to help his father with work and had to drop out of school, until he remembered the library where he could read and study science books. He learned about windmills and how they can be used to make electricity and pump water. William collected junk and parts from the trash to try and create a windmill even though people thought he was crazy. With the help of his cousin and friend he was able to finish his windmill and use wires to connect the mill to light bulbs which worked! People rejoiced and they began building windmills all over the country to help light the darkness and pump water to the crops.
Illustrations:
Zunon creates beautiful and detailed collage style art illustrations. The images do a lot of storytelling and help readers connect with William and his struggles. Throughout the story William and his peers use some words in their first language, and the images help readers identify what it is they are referring too.
Zunon creates beautiful and detailed collage style art illustrations. The images do a lot of storytelling and help readers connect with William and his struggles. Throughout the story William and his peers use some words in their first language, and the images help readers identify what it is they are referring too.
In the classroom:
This is a great book to have in a class library because of its inspiring message. William worked hard and didn't listen to his peers when they said he was crazy. He loved to learn and studied hard to create something to help his family and his village. He was able to save his village and ultimately peoples lives by trusting in himself and pursuing his dream of working with machinery. This is an important message for students to experience.
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