William loves to explore how things work, so when a severe drought and famine devastate his rural Malawian village, William goes to the library looking for solutions. With warm collage illustrations, this remarkable true story of curiosity and determination comes alive as readers watch William forage in the junkyard for materials and then build a machine that makes “electric wind.” A two page author's note provides the back story of how William goes on to build not only and electricity producing windmill but also one that can pump water to irrigate his family's fields. A TED talk he gave inspired a philanthropic effort to send him to college for an engineering degree. What an inspiring story. This is a story about a boy with a very intuitive mind. William lives n a small village in Malawi where everyone has very little. Just to keep their family living William has to stop going to school to help in the fields. Drought hits and the family can no longer produce crops because they can not water them. William get an idea from the books that the reads to himself in the library and he set to work on producing electricity from windmills. I would use this book in several ways. I would like to show students the way that other people live and make money and that there are different ways to produce electricity. The illustrations in this book are done with a style of collage and mixed papers to give some pictures texture and depth.
Great message about learning and inventions, could have used more details in the information.
—mikeswede
Wow. What a fascinating person Kamkwamba is.ALA ALSC Notable 2013
—tom
i think that this is an awesome story, and haters dont hate!!!
—HappyReader
Great inspiring story for kids!
—meggs
