Hindenburg Disaster

Description

Describes the events of the Hindenburg airship disaster. Written in graphic-novel format.

Matt Doeden is a freelance author and editor from Minnesota. He's written numerous children's books on sports, music, current events, the military, extreme survival, and much more. His books Sandy Koufax (Twenty-First Century Books, 2006) and Tom Brady: Unlikely Champion (Twenty-First Century Books, 2011) were Junior Library Guild selections. Doeden began his career as a sports writer before turning to publishing. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and two children. Steve originally hails from Oklahoma, and is a 2007 inductee into the Oklahoma Cartoonist Hall of Fame. He spent over a decade penciling comic books for DC Comics. Over the years, he's lent his artistic talents to a variety of other fields, ranging from t-shirt design to spot illustration to kids meal toys. He resides in north Texas where he makes a nice living as a product illustrator and designer for seasonal decorative items, occasionally dabbling in comics art and graphic novels. His wide range of experience falls in line with his personal philosophy as summed up by author Douglas Adams: I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but almost always end up where I need to be.

For many young learners, it can never hurt to make history more palatable. The "Disasters in History" series aims to do just that, and it achieves its goal superbly. Having had no prior experience with graphic novels, this reviewer was not sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of historical accuracy, including direct quotes, vividly realistic illustrations, and abundant additional resources for readers who want to learn more now that their interest has been piqued. The promise and resulting disaster of the Hindenburg's flight are aptly conveyed, and the elements leading to its demise are explained. Specific actual characters are followed through the ordeal, and their escape to make the event personal and the high number of survivors make this story less painful.-- "Children's Literature Comprehensive Database" When the Hindenburg, a large hydrogen filled zeppelin, left Germany in early May in 1937 to travel to the United States, some of the passengers were worried that the gas filled air ship might be unsafe, but the three day journey across the Atlantic was uneventful. The weather in New Jersey was unstable and landing was postponed for a while until the evening of May 6th. Then, at around 7: 30 landing lines were released and it was just a short while before the first flames were seen by people on the ground. Because of the flammable nature of the gas in the air ship, the fire spread in just seconds and soon the whole airship was an inferno. People leapt from the burning airship and in the end thirty six people died as a result of this disaster. Because of the loss of the Hindenburg airships soon went into a decline. This graphic novel style account of what happened to the Hindenburg is sure to capture the interest of young readers who like to read about the history of air travel. Carefully researched and includes the accounts of people who were present on that dreadful day, this is one of the titles in the "Graphic Library" series.-- "Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review"