Roth, Jonathan. Almost Underwear: How a Piece of Cloth Traveled from Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Mars. Christy Ottaviano Books. 978-0-316-52554-1. 32 p. $18.99. Grades K-3. 

In the early 1900s, bolts of unbleached muslin cloth were most often purchased from department stores to be made into sturdy, practical underwear. But, when Orville and Wilbur Wright purchased a bolt of muslin in 1903, they stretched, cut, and sewed the fabric tightly around the wings of the glider they were secretly building. The muslin was perfect for gliding because it was lightweight, flexible, and very strong. On December 17, 1903, the muslin-covered wings helped the Wright Brothers’ glider achieve its historic 12-second flight. But, that was not the final aviation adventure for the humble cloth. On July 20, 1969, to honor Orville and Wilbur’s first flight, Neil Armstrong packed a swatch of original wing fabric into a fireproof bag that he carried with him during the first moon landing. And, more than fifty years later, the piece of cloth traveled to space once again. A team of engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California affixed a tiny piece of the original muslin to the underside of the Ingenuity helicopter that lifted off from the surface of Mars on April 19, 2021. Thanks to imagination, ingenuity, and perseverance, the ordinary cloth was woven into some of the greatest moments in aviation history. An Author’s Note and Glossary include additional information about the Wright Brothers, Neil Armstrong and other astronauts, and the engineers who worked on the Mars landing. 

THOUGHTS: Although this book tells a captivating story about an ordinary fabric and its extraordinary destiny, the illustrations are equally intriguing. The illustrations are digitally drawn on top of historic photographs and images of the actual fabric swatch Neil Armstrong took to the moon. Readers will be drawn into this fascinating story and will enjoy connecting the dots between major moments in U.S. history. This will be a great tie-in for STEM and space-themed units and a fun reminder that even the most ordinary things can be destined for greatness. 

629.1 Aerospace Engineering