The Kite That Bridged Two Nations - An Interview with Alexis O'Neill
Author and school visit specialist, Alexis O’Neill is here today to talk about her latest award-winning book, The Kite That Bridged Two Nations. Alexis, this is a great nonfiction picture book that introduces readers to a historic kite contest and Homan Walsh, who dreamed of flying his kite across the wide Niagara. Can you tell us about the research that went in to writing this book? Nancy – thanks for your invitation to share! For pleasure years ago, I had read David McCullough’s book, The Great Bridge , about John A. Roebling’s building of the Brooklyn Bridge. McCullough mentioned Homan Walsh and the kite flying contest because Roebling finished the Niagara Suspension Bridge project when the original engineer left. When someone suggested to me that that incident might make a good kids book, my research began. Internet. I searched Wikipedia to get overviews of the event, people and places; collect key words and images; and examine biblio...