The Boy and the Wild Blue Girl

While everyone around him finds the wind—embodied in a young, spirit-like girl with wild blue hair—a nuisance, young Poul finds her fascinating. When the girl sweeps away carefully planted flowers, he realizes she simply doesn’t “always know her own strength,” and when she blows out the candles at a birthday party—much to the disappointment of the birthday boy—Poul sees “she just wanted to help.” As Poul looks on at a kite tangled in a tree, the wild girl sitting on his shoulders and holding his head with one hand while the other is raised to her mouth in an expression of concern at the problem she has caused a group of kids, he reassures her that he and she “just need to show them” how special she is. He begins building a windmill in the middle of town, hoping people will learn to appreciate what the wild girl offers. As the girl sweeps through the turbines and the crowd looks on from below, everyone’s hair dramatically swept to one side, the looks of delight and awe on their faces confirm Poul has succeeded. An endnote explains that Poul’s character is inspired by Poul la Cour, a Danish inventor who made significant contributions to the field of wind power. Negley’s abstract, gorgeous aquarelle and digital illustrations also include cut papers, adding an inventive, creative touch to the jumbled houses where Poul works. Tracking Poul over time and seeing him grow into a mature individual actually capable of building a windmill, as well as including more in the story outside of the endnote about wind energy, would have improved the book reach its full, promising potential.