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Rating: 
Summary: Informative, Ambitious, and Not for Children Only
Review: This book is a marvelous summary of the story of the Wright Brothers, and both children and their parents are likely to learn from it. My 6-year-old enjoyed it, in part because of the interesting mix of illustrations - there are nine handsome and painstakingly accurate full-page paintings, as well as a further mix of vintage and color photographs, diagrams and sketch plans - but this book seems intended for somewhat older children in the 8-12 age range. The book not only succeeds as biography and history, but it also tries to explain some of the mechanics and science of flying. Thus, there are insets on such topics as "How Does Wing-Warping Work?", "The Wright Wind Tunnel," and diagrams explaining concepts such as pitch, roll, and yaw. There are other insets focusing on aspects of late nineteenth-century social history ("The Bicycle Craze") and other aerial pioneers who paved the way for the Wright Brothers ("Otto Lilienthal: The Flying Man"). The book includes all of the key historical artifacts (the first picture of the first flight, Orville's elated but still understated telegram home to his father announcing "Success . . . inform Press . . . . home Christmas "). It goes beyond the first flight itself, detailing the world's surprisingly muted reaction to the Wrights' great achievement, the difficulties they had protecting their patent rights in subsequent years, and the 1908 air crash that resulted in the first fatality in an airplane and serious injuries to Orville Wright. It also tells the striking story of the brothers' father, Bishop Milton Wright, whose gift of a toy helicopter to his two young sons ultimately led to one of the most important scientific accomplishments of all time. One of the happiest aspects of the Wrights' story is that the old bishop lived to fly through the skies with his son Orville. This book is thus a wonderful retelling for younger readers of the remarkably focused and disciplined five year-campaign in which two self-taught mechanic-scientists, neither of them a college graduate, with no corporate backing or financial resources aside from those supplied by their own successful small business, realized man's oldest dream and conquered the sky. Beyond that, it is a moving reminder for parents of the astonishing results that can sometimes grow from a gift to a child, and the willingness to foster and facilitate a child's curiosity about their world.
Rating:
Summary: Informative, Ambitious, and Not for Children Only
Review: This book is a marvelous summary of the story of the Wright Brothers, and both children and their parents are likely to learn from it. My 6-year-old enjoyed it, in part because of the interesting mix of illustrations - there are nine handsome and painstakingly accurate full-page paintings, as well as a further mix of vintage and color photographs, diagrams and sketch plans - but this book seems intended for somewhat older children in the 8-12 age range. The book not only succeeds as biography and history, but it also tries to explain some of the mechanics and science of flying. Thus, there are insets on such topics as "How Does Wing-Warping Work?", "The Wright Wind Tunnel," and diagrams explaining concepts such as pitch, roll, and yaw. There are other insets focusing on aspects of late nineteenth-century social history ("The Bicycle Craze") and other aerial pioneers who paved the way for the Wright Brothers ("Otto Lilienthal: The Flying Man"). The book includes all of the key historical artifacts (the first picture of the first flight, Orville's elated but still understated telegram home to his father announcing "Success . . . inform Press . . . . home Christmas "). It goes beyond the first flight itself, detailing the world's surprisingly muted reaction to the Wrights' great achievement, the difficulties they had protecting their patent rights in subsequent years, and the 1908 air crash that resulted in the first fatality in an airplane and serious injuries to Orville Wright. It also tells the striking story of the brothers' father, Bishop Milton Wright, whose gift of a toy helicopter to his two young sons ultimately led to one of the most important scientific accomplishments of all time. One of the happiest aspects of the Wrights' story is that the old bishop lived to fly through the skies with his son Orville. This book is thus a wonderful retelling for younger readers of the remarkably focused and disciplined five year-campaign in which two self-taught mechanic-scientists, neither of them a college graduate, with no corporate backing or financial resources aside from those supplied by their own successful small business, realized man's oldest dream and conquered the sky. Beyond that, it is a moving reminder for parents of the astonishing results that can sometimes grow from a gift to a child, and the willingness to foster and facilitate a child's curiosity about their world.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read!
Review: This book is wonderful for children to read or have it read to them. It contains marvelous illustrations and actual photographs of important events in the lives of Wilbur and Orville Wright.
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