To Fly - by Wendie C Old (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Orville and Wilbur Wright were a fascinating pair. Not only did they invent, build, and fly the first airplane, they were also idiosyncratic individuals who had a unique relationship, sharing a home, a bank account, and a business throughout their lives. Their story is portrayed here in brief, accessible chapters, beginning with their childhood fascination with flight and love of problem solving, then detailing their early experiments and dangerous trial runs in North Carolina, and ending with their successful flights of 1903. This well-researched and personable biography is illustrated with elegant watercolors by flight enthusiast and noted artist Robert Andrew Parker. Timeline, endnotes, bibliography.

Review Quotes

"Consistent themes inform without undue moralizing. . . . Straightforward text employs simple sentences and familiar language. . . . Impressionistic. . . celebrat[es] the majesty of flight . . .
Horn Book

"Particularly smooth reading, sharply focused...this is no childish picture book. Old's offering claims a Wrightful place." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred

"A solid book...smoothly told, with details deftly included. Parker's watercolors...suit the daredevil ricketiness of the Wright Brothers invention." New York Review of Books

"With a straightforward text, Old's use of detail . . . is easily accessible . . . illustrations by Robert Andrew Parker are splendid." --Riverbank Review Riverbank Review

"simple sentences and familiar language ...an early chapter book...impressionistic scenes...celebrating the majesty of flight." The HORN BOOK GUIDE Horn Book Guide --