Review by Booklist 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
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Sixty period photographs, reproduced as large-scale duotones, illuminate Airborne: A Photobiography of Wilbur and Orville Wright by Mary Collins, newest in the publisher's photobiography series. Images range from the famous (the December 17, 1903, flight at Kitty Hawk) to the less glamorous (Wilbur cooking in the 1902 hangar where he and Orville slept, worked and stored their glider) to the thrillingly atmospheric (French farmers stand by their ox-drawn carts, looking up as Wilbur sails overhead). Printed with eloquent quotes from the Wrights, the photos accompany an insightful text that includes an especially lucid discussion of the Wrights' technological achievements. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-10-Airborne displays 60 duotone photographs, and the tinting or bluing-a kind of metallic color wash-gives the archival images a luminous quality and unifies the presentation. Collins has done her photo research-all her research-well. The text relates how two determined little boys grew into inventive reflective men who practiced, designed, practiced, and redesigned until they successfully mastered controlled flight and essentially "taught the world to fly." The author covers the concepts the Wright brothers had to master: pitch, yaw, and roll; and relates how hundreds of small steps led to their monumental achievement. She presents the facts in a knowing, methodical way-like the subjects, who pursued details to the fullest. For example, the brothers wrote to the National Weather Service inquiring about wind speeds and temperatures at various sites before settling on the desolate outer banks of North Carolina. The well-chosen photos give readers a feel for Kitty Hawk-windy, sandy, solitary. This is an exceptionally well-informed picture of the Wright brothers and what their 100-year-old achievement really meant-how to fly-"not lumber through the air and plop to the ground, but alight into the blue- turn and land gracefully under full control."-Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright flew the world's first controlled heavier-than-air vehicle, an invention that he and his brother, Wilbur, developed over time and through intense effort. The brothers' processes of hypothesizing ways to overcome the problems of flight, building various models, testing those models, correcting their mistakes, and finally producing a successful powered airplane take center stage in this account. Collins clearly demonstrates Wilbur and Orville's inquisitiveness, intelligence, and perseverance. Less straightforward are her explanations of the principles of flight. The definition of lift is left to the standard diagram, a plump, horizontal apostrophe surrounded by arrows indicating high and low pressure areas, while the discussion of pitch, yaw, and roll flies by quickly in an awkward transition linking Wilbur's initial testing of wing warping to glider construction. Further explanations of the brothers' design changes, however, show both the whats and whys involved in each modification, not only allowing readers to understand their inventiveness but also nicely setting the stage for the afterword that extends their contributions beyond the first flight to the foundations of aeronautical engineering. Both the journalistic narrative and the numerous archival photographs blend relevant biographical information with technical explanations, giving personalities to the major players and a historical context for their accomplishments. The book is just right for those readers too advanced for Wendie Old's To Fly (rev. 11/02) and too young for Russell Freedman's The Wright Brothers (rev. 7/91). While there is no documentation, Airborne contains a chronology of the Wright brothers' lives, an index, and a list of print and nonprint sources. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
