I didn’t get all the way through this book, but what I did read I liked. I enjoy children’s books, as homeschool my children, and I found this one to fill a particular niche. Instead of focusing on the Wright Brothers lives in a biographical way, it focused on the problems they had to solve as engineers to produce a flying machine. This isn’t just another book about the Wright brothers, but an interesting look at the known science and discoveries made while humans learned to fly. A great book to add to your library! ( )

engineering, history-of-flight, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, technology, science, inventors, inventions, creative-solutions

This book is definitely beyond my expectations! It is listed as being for a target age group, but I found it to be for a larger audience (even advanced ESL!). There are many photographs of differing early and experimental biplanes and even some current ones. Principles of flight are clearly demonstrated with drawings and more.
I entered the giveaway in the hope of winning a copy for my 14 y/o grandson (or his 11 y/o brother) in Ohio, but showing it on a Zoom family call had their father (my #3 son) asking me to hurry up and finish it so I could send it to family!
I won a print copy of this book in a LibraryThing giveaway from the author. ( )

Book is about the development of a flying machine. They start off with kites, watching how the wing work and studying the effects. They buile a small wind tunnel to test different wing shapes. All leading up to gliders. after the success of the gliders they built their own engine to power it. Interesting book with a lot of original pictures which were made on glass slides. ( )

Wow, an outstanding book! Beautiful cover, quality pages, and full of information for young readers at 118 pages. Because it's for young readers I really appreciate the sources pages and the explanation for why it's important to include and reference. Also included are a glossary and appendices for Wright Brothers' aircraft specifications and calculating drag. There are several learning opportunities for learning to calculate foundational concepts using simple inexpensive materials, e.g., bicycle wheel testing for wind balance, balancing a yardstick for understanding pitch control, and manipulating a cereal box for wind warping simulations. In addition to being educational, I appreciate the historical storytelling! Great chapter titles such as "Simple and Ingenious", "Birth of a Vision," and "It All Starts With Homework Of Course." Great quality reproductions of historically important photographs and correspondence. I was only surprised by the lack of illustrations as I interpreted the explanation of the book to mean that many drawing illustrations would be included whereas it's actually photographs and some diagrams, but I'm not disappointed as there are many photographs and they're large and great to engage young readers. Recommend very highly, especially for a STEM library.

Even though my interests tend more toward literature and art, I couldn't resist the premise of being "elbow-to-elbow with the brothers as they solve the many technical challenges" and the author did not disappoint! I have read middle-grade books on the Wright Brothers before, but this one focuses more on the process of design and invention, even going as far as to explain some of the mathematical calculations they use. The writing style was engaging, humorous at times (without being distracting), and the author's passion is evident throughout the book. The photographs were absolutely stunning, having been cleaned up and colorized to give the reader more a feel of what it looked like to be there. Although the focus of the book was more on the engineering side of things rather than being a biography of the Wright brothers, it was a satisfying balance of both. Highly recommended! ( )