Almost Underwear: How a Piece of Cloth Traveled from Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Mars
Christy Ottaviano Books, 2024

About the book
This picture book describes three milestones in the history of flight, linked by a simple piece of cloth. In 1903 the Wright brothers bought a bolt of muslin in a department store. The plain fabric was most often used to make underwear, but the Wrights wrapped it around the ribs of a mechanical “wing” — and dramatically changed the world. In 1969 the Apollo 11 mission to the moon carried a swatch of the same fabric; and in 2021, Ingenuity, a remote-controlled helicopter, became the first craft from Earth to fly on another planet, with a piece of the very old cloth going along for the ride.

About the author
Jonathan Roth is an elementary art teacher and author-illustrator who has been fascinated with robotic space missions since the Viking lander sent back the first images from the surface of Mars. His other books for young readers include the Rover and Speck graphic novel series and the Beep and Bob chapter book series.

Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes.

About the Festival
The History Book Festival is the first and only book festival in the United States devoted exclusively to history. With the help of our presenting funding partners — Delaware Humanities, National Endowment for the Humanities, and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices | PenFed Realty — as well as our program and community partners, volunteers, and donors, the 2024 History Book Festival will be full of great discussions with authors of newly published narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. Our Keynote event is presented by Sally Mott Freeman and John K. Freeman, and our Closing event is presented by Griswold Home Care for Sussex and Kent Counties. Saturday’s Spirited Discussion, our gathering for attendees and presenters to celebrate and discuss their day, is presented by Dogfish Head Beer & Benevolence.

Special thanks to our program partners for their continuing support: the Lewes Public Library for event promotion and venue; Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, official bookseller of the History Book Festival; Lewes Chamber of Commerce for event promotion, and the Cape Gazette and Delmarva Public Media, our media partners.

Additional thanks to our community partners: CAMP Rehoboth, Historic Lewes Farmers Market, Lewes Historical Society, Rehoboth Art League, Rehoboth Beach Film Society, Seaside Jewish Community, and Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ).