Airborne: A Photobiography of Wilbur and Orville Wright - Hardcover

Collins, Mary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0792269578 ISBN 13: 9780792269571

Publisher: National Geographic Kids, 2003

Synopsis

This is the inspiring photobiography of Wilbur and Orville Wright, whose determination and curiosity led them to create the first working airplane. The newest edition adds common core-aligned critical thinking activities for even further learning in the classroom or at home. 

Packed with intriguing photos of Wilbur and Orville Wright, their family, and their many experiments, this photobiography reveals the personalities and lives of these extraordinary young men who resolved those problems of flight that stumped the experts and built the first airplane that really could fly!

About this title

About the Author:

MARY COLLINS grew up in New England, but spent most of her professional career in Washington, D.C., where she worked as a consulting writer and editor for a wide range of clients, including National Geographic and the Smithsonian,and taught writing part-time for 12 years at Johns Hopkins University's MA in Writing Program.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* Gr. 4-8. The centenary of the Wright brothers' first powered flight in 1903 has inspired many books on the men and their achievement but few as successful as this one. Like many other books, this one discusses the close-knit Wright family, the brothers' bicycle shop, the experiments in flight, and the triumph at Kitty Hawk. But Collins offers unusually lively portrayals of Orville and Wilbur, differentiating their personalities throughout the book and making it possible for readers to think of them as individuals before, during, and after their famous flights. Also notable are the exceptionally clear explanations of the technical challenges involved in controlling the early airplanes' motion and how the brothers solved those problems. One eye-opening section tells of Orville's refusal to give the original Flyer to the Smithsonian Institution until they recognized the Wrights as the first to fly, which they did in 1942. The large size of this well-designed book allows for many good-size photos as well as fairly big type and plenty of white space. The excellent, captioned photos, drawings of planes, and maps are a great asset to the presentation. The book ends with a chronology, a brief list of sources for quotes, and list of further resources, including source material, recommended books for young readers, Web sites, interviews, and a video. A well-researched, memorable portrait of its subjects. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: National Geographic Kids
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0792269578
• ISBN 13: 9780792269571
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64