Whirligigs: The Wondrous Windmills of Vollis Simpson’s Imagination

Vollis Simpson (1919–2013) grew up on a North Carolina farm “fixing things before he could read,” writes Boston Weatherford. When an injury in his 60s forced him to close his successful machine-repair shop, he was as “bored as a two-by-four,” until his next chapter came to him in a dream. He would create whirligigs—kinetic, windmill-like sculptures fashioned from scrap and salvaged material. Digital art by Fotheringham conveys the giddy feel of an amusement park or funhouse to images of the inventions, which pop with playful textures, candy colors, and punctuations of onomatopoeia (“BANG, BONK, THUD, THONK”). Lauded by schoolchildren, tourists, and visionary art connoisseurs alike, the whirligigs today live in an outdoor gallery. Offering an opportunity to appreciate the boundlessness of human creativity, it’s a story about a figure who refused to call himself an artist, saying what mattered most was to “wake up every day and have to do something with my hands.” Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note and photographs conclude. Ages 7–10. (Nov.)