Airborne: A Photobiography of Wilbur and Orville Wright [Hardcover]

Mary Collins (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Photobiographies

They were unconventional geniuses who loved solving mechanical problems but never graduated from high school—two brothers with brilliant minds, the ability to build what they envisioned, and the determination to tinker and test until they got something right. Packed with intriguing photos of Wilbur and Orville Wright, their family, and their many experiments, this newest 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!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 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
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic Children's Books (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792269578
• ISBN-13: 978-0792269571
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 0.4 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,812,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More 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. In 2007 she moved to teaching full-time and is now a professor of creative writing at Central Connecticut State University. She returned to her native state to be near family, to walk right out her door to wooded trails and the charm of a small town, and to teach writing to as many students as she can handle.