First sentence: Richard James was a dreamer. But in 1943 the United States was at war. Richard had so support his country and his family, so he worked as an engineer for the United States Navy in a shipyard in Philadelphia.
Premise/plot: While trying to invent something that would "keep fragile ship equipment from vibrating in choppy seas," Richard was inspired by a falling torsion spring that fell from above his desk and started walking across it. He was so excited, he took it home to show his wife and son. Was it a new toy? He thought it might be. Betty, his wife, named it SLINKY. Together they would try to make a go of it. They borrowed $500.00, made 400 of them, and then tried to get the Slinky into local stores....
My thoughts: I really liked this one. Did it answer ALL my questions about the toy, about its creators, about its success? Probably not. But should it have to be packed with enough information to satisfy adults when the book was meant to be a picture book for children? I think the story is a fun one. It really made me want to look up Slinky commercials on YouTube.
Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10
© 2017 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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