Our Neighbor Is A Strange, Strange Man

Our Neighbor Is a Strange, Strange Man

From School Library JournalGrade 1-3-The strange neighbor in this brief tale is Melville Murrell, who received a patent in 1877 for the first American "airplane"-a "weird contraption made of wood and pulleys, bolts and strings...." This picture book rescues this little-known eccentric inventor from obscurity. The short, conversational narrative by the boy who lives next door is enhanced by Krudop's bright, full-page paintings. They give life and humor to this brief moment in history when a man flew several yards in a winged platform propelled by other men pulling on ropes. Final notes show the plan of Murrell's construction and tell of its present location in the Smithsonian. The story, a slight bit of Americana, may be useful in a unit on transportation, flight, or history. However, it lacks the depth and richness of the Provensens' story of the French inventor Louis Bleriot in The Glorious Flight (Viking, 1983).Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.A young boy notices that his bizarre neighbor Melville Murrell--the first person to construct a flying machine--has a penchant for conversing with birds and jumping off of walls flapping cabbage leaves.From Publishers WeeklySeymour's (Hunting the White Cow) triumphant tale of Melville Murrell, who in 1876 built the first airplane, champions pioneers who dare to step outside familiar territory. The narrator is a boy in Murrell's Tennessee hometown whose obvious fascination with his eccentric neighbor vies with the disapproving local gossip. Krudop's (Black Whiteness) puckish gouaches emphasize the contrast between Murrell and his neighbors: e.g., he is seen, nose buried in a book, high-stepping past a farmer plowing his field. Thoughtful cropping and imaginatively skewed perspectives draw attention to the elements likeliest to intrigue kids: pulleys in Murrell's workroom; Oz-like balloons in his living room; Murrell, clad in hat, suit and tie, up in a tree, taking notes on birds in flight. Seymour's details are equally well chosen ("They say he used to jump off the old stone wall/ flapping cabbage leaves to FLY, for goodness' sake,/ when he was a boy"). The title line repeats throughout and at the end, when Murrell signals for takeoff: "And he expects the clacking, whumping, whizzing thing to go! Our neighbor is a strange, strangeAOH!... It FLIES!/ For goodness' sake." Sure to pique readers' interest. Ages 5-9.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.