Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle by John Abbott Nez
| Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle by John Abbott Nez | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: A charmingly illustrated tale of a real life pioneer in American flight. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: May 2009 |
| Publisher: Putnam | |
| ISBN: 978-0399250415 | |
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Meet Cromwell Dixon. He's a real tinkerer, forever in a barn or somewhere building something manically unusual. Luckily - although his long-suffering mother may disagree with that word - he's around at the birth of powered flight. Will his plans for a pedalled air machine work?
Well as this is a true story, the answer is slightly obvious. He really seems to have been a young genius - a rollercoaster and a motorbike under his belt way before he was of what is now school-leaving age. But as he appears here - a slightly young fourteen year old - he is an airman of Edwardian style, great willpower, and more than a little pluck.
This volume is finely balanced between the picture book and the young reader. There are several multi-syllable words, but nothing too strenuous. The greatest effort seems to have been spent on the illustrations, which are superb - lovely, rich detail, with every large spread peppered with animals (Cromwell's pet dog, perhaps unwisely braving his master's experiments, the haughty cockerel at the landing site), charming people and a bright warmth.
It's a simple story told very nicely, with no real attempt to force the moral - fortune favours the brave, to some extent - down anyone's throats. It won't be particularly inspirational as a result, but will open young reader's eyes to antique airmachines and the pioneering spirit. Luckily it stops before the real Cromwell died in a air crash when he was only nineteen.
That's certainly what we don't want in picture books of this sort. What we do want is what we get - great artistry in the pictures, a simple linear tale, and for once, a forgotten hero resurrected for a brief while as a great hero for our young friends and families.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
If your child has learnt to love planes, they will get a lot from Take a Flight by Peter Kent. But adults, don't despair - there is a flying pioneer in picture form for you, too - it's Trial and Error: The Aviated Efforts of Jean Babtiste de Bomberaque by Oivind Hovland.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle by John Abbott Nez at Amazon.com.
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