Cover of WORLD ON A STRING: The Story of Kites by Jane Yolen

World on a String: the Story of Kites

World Publishing 1968
ISBN# LC 68-26976 World hardcover

This book includes everything I ever found out about kites through my father’s involvement with them. Actually the first book I ever wrote was one I ghosted for my father–The Young Sportsman’s Guide to Kite Flying. I had to write it the way he wanted me to–as well as to fit into the series of Young Sportsmen books. So this was the way I wanted to write about kites, with the emphasis on the beauty, lure, and lore of kite flying. However to be honest, my father was the flier. I was never able to get a kite up in the air!

Out of print.

What reviewers have said:

  • “This is a book about kites that would be stylish any day, for in her text and in her choice of prints and photographs, Miss Yolen has told their glorious history with great style. And so persuasively that readers will be quick to recognize the validity of her statement, “the only way to discover if the kite is your ‘contract of glory’ is to make or buy a kite of your own and fly it.’”—Publisher’s Weekly
  • *”…an evocative account of the many practical and imaginative use of kites from earliest times to the present, with hints of some future developments. The author’s obvious enthusiasm is disciplined into a well organized presentation of kite flying in the Orient, Europe, and America.. . . .Numerous handsome photographs and reproductions along with excellent captions, add an important dimension to the text.” School Library Journal, starred review
  • “This is an intriguing, well-illustrated volume, replete with legend, history, and scientific data. It is intended for young people, but any adult is sure to get caught up in its pages before passing it on.”–New York Times
  • “The history of kites, which began at least 2,000 years ago in China, is given in vivid detail, with many a delightful anecdote and a choice selection of prints and photographs.”–Children’s Book World
  • “. . .comprehensive, authoritative. . .well illustrated.”–Kirkus
  • “. . .a fascinating, informal account. . .traces the history of kites from their unknown beginnings in China to the present.”–Booklist
  • “A volume of fascinating content, produced with distinction.”–Horn Book
  • “Lively style”–The Book Bag