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Flip! How the Frisbee Took Flight

Author Margaret Muirhead

Illustrated by Adam Gustavson

Hardcover

$17.99 US

Charlesbridge

10.5"W x 12.25"H x 0.4"D (26.7 x 31.1 x 1.0 cm) | 19 oz (524 g) | 20 per carton

On sale Apr 27, 2021 | 32 Pages | 9781580898805

Age 4-8 years | Preschool - 3

Reading Level: Lexile 780L | Fountas & Pinnell T

Sales rights: World

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Children's Books > Children's Nonfiction

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This charming picture book biography about the inventor of the Frisbee follows the twists and turns of innovation and highlights the persistence it takes to succeed.

Fred Morrison is credited with inventing this classic toy, but for centuries folks have been flipping for flying discs. Ancient Greeks flicked discs, and beginning in the 1920s, college kids at Yale University were tossing pie tins.

Fred's invention quest began in 1932 after tossing a tin popcorn lid around the backyard. For more than twenty years, Fred and his wife, Lu, tried and failed to perfect a flying-disc concept. Eventually they created what we know today as the Frisbee.

Fun and fact-filled, this Frisbee origin story is sure to delight sports and STEM fans alike.

Where do new ideas come from?
No one knows exactly who created the flying disc. Was it cavekids who flung round rocks? Ancient Greeks who threw the first discus? 1920s New England college students who flew empty pie plates made by a baker named Frisbie? Or was it high school football player Fred Morrison, who started tossing the lids of popcorn tins in 1937? One thing is certain: Fred Morrison became entranced with the idea of a flying disc and was convinced that it could succeed. Zippy, well-paced text teeming with consonance and energetic, engaging retro-style illustrations trace Morrison’s development of the toy. After pursuing several prototypes, bouncing back from failure, partnering with his wife, and blending the idea with the space craze of the late ’40s and ’50s, Morrison was eventually able to sell his design—called the Pluto Platter—to Wham-O, a toy company that learned of the pie plates in New England, tweaked the name, and began to distribute the Frisbee we know today. A great choice for illustrating social-emotional skills, particularly resilience, as well as steps of the STEM process, this lighthearted, entertaining selection is full of kid appeal and is sure to provide inspiration and encourage inventive thinking. Period illustrations feature an all-White cast, with people of color appearing in a contemporary park scene.
An appealing true tale of innovation and perseverance.
—Kirkus Reviews

Stories of inventions usually have a single starting point. But when it comes to the origin of the flying disc, more than one individual has a claim. Muirhead's text provides a few possible answers but focuses on the one individual with enough entrepreneurial gumption to create the product seen flying through the air at beaches and parks today. In 1937, California high schooler Fred Morrison happened to be tossing a flat popcorn lid with his girlfriend. Something about the way the lid flew grabbed hold of Morrison, and soon the lid was replaced by a better-flying cake pan. Muirhead describes the many iterations of Morrison's invention, from five-cent cake pans sold at the beach for a quarter to specially designed and molded plastics that led to the durable Frisbee we know today. Gustavson's gouache illustrations (a bit static-looking for capturing the excitement of a disc's gliding flight) allude to Norman Rockwell's Americana style while efffectively situating readers in pre- and post-World War II settings. An author's note and sources are appended. Fans of Barton and Tate's Whoosh! and McCarthy's Earmuffs for Everyone! will flip for this unique invention tale.
—The Horn Book

Margaret Muirhead View titles by Margaret Muirhead

Adam Gustavson received his Bachelor's degree in illustration from Rowan University and his Master's from the School of Visial Arts in New York. Adam has illustrated several picture books, including the award-winning Good Luck, Mrs. K! (Margaret K. McElderry). He also teaches at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, New Jersey, and Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey.

Adam and his family live in West Orange, New Jersey. View titles by Adam Gustavson

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