History, CBR17 Pie Chart Challenge 
Who knew that a piece of muslin cloth would have such an adventurous life? Reads as fiction, Almost Underwear: How a Piece of Cloth Traveled from Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Mars by Jonathan Roth is a non-fiction story that is humorous and educational. Great for a classroom and a way to grab kids’ attention. After all, what kid doesn’t think underwear is amusing?
When I first read the title I thought it was going to be about underwear. I know it does say almost but I figured it would work itself out. I tried reading it on my phone, but the type was way too small. I eventually read it during a lunch break (still via an online reader, though it is available). What it was about was actually probably better than an underwear book (though I bet an underwear book would have been fun, too).
Roth shows us how a roll of cloth, plain white and sturdy, whose only hope of being used was to be made into women’s undergarments. Nothing wrong with that, but Roth says that undergarments tend not to be made for greatness. Yet, this roll was purchased by two brothers who made bicycles. And whom you might know as Orville and Wilbur Wright. They took this cloth, and used it on the craft that would fly on that fateful day. After it was done being useful, the brothers put it away to only resurface when a museum started. Years later, a man named Neil Armstrong would take a piece of that cloth and add it to the few items he was allowed to take to the moon. Over the years, patches were taken and lost and some shown on display. And in 2020 a machine would have a small patch of cloth, over a hundred years old would land on Mars.
Getting to this point of things is half the fun of this book. Mixing real photographs and illustrations the history of the cloth (and that little thing called flight) unfolds. Everything is told in simpler text, but is not lacking in content or maturity. While all ages can have the book adapted for them, it works well for the stronger 6 to 8 year old up to about 10-12 (the 12 would be on the younger side). It works well in a classroom setting probably better than an one-on-one reading, but it can work that way too.
I can’t really begin to talk about how much fun I had reading this book. How much I really liked it, sure there were a few places I had wanted other or more information, but overall it was a great book and I’m glad I was able to read it.
