Furious Flycycle

by Jan Wahl and Jan Wahl. Pictures by Fernando Krahn

Book Overview

A classic from bestselling and multi-award-winning children's author Jan Wahl. In order to rescue his uncle's family from imminent danger, Melvin Spitznagle, kid genius, puts his latest invention to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• ISBN: B005KEMOGY
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: Dell
• Length: 114 Pages
• Weight: 0.27 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Wonderful fun!

I bought this book when I was in second grade in the late 1970's, and thought it wonderfully funny. I still smile when I think of Melvin's father's slogan,"Spitznagle's Ice Cream--It's better than it sounds," and other understated humor. ("His parents went downstairs and cleaned the apple pie off their shoes.") This is the story of Melvin, who dares to be different in order to realize his dream of being a mechanical wizard. Not only is this a great book for children, but also a fun read-aloud volume for the family. (One caution here--though it appears to be a chapter book, it isn't actually divided into chapters. Mine isn't, anyway. I loaned it to a friend whose children didn't want her to stop reading it.) I was surprised at the 9-12 age range listed. I was 7 when I read it, and, recently, a friend's 5-and-7-year-olds enjoyed having it read to them.

Supurb! A must have for any bookshelf.

If Harry Potter was to have an American friend it would be Melvin Spitznagle. His "Generating Stabilizing Electro Carbon Condensating Atmospheric Pro-Cyclonic Compact Dynamic Magnet Box" would put him in serious competition with Potter's broom. This is a tremendously fun book that undoubtably propelled me to a love of science. My well worn copy sits in my office book shelf waiting for the chance to read it to my children. Your son or daughter will love it many times over.

Great book for 8 to 12 year olds

This remains one of my favorite books from childhood. I learned to make ice cream as an adult wanting to duplicate the heroics. For some reason (maybe physics class) I gave up on the flying bicyle part. My well-worn original paperback ca. 1972 sits on my son's bookshelf waiting for him to be old enough for chapter books, etc. Why say more and give away the story?