To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers [Hardcover]

Wendie C. Old (Author), Robert Andrew Parker (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)

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, and will be published just in time for the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first flight. Timeline, endnotes, bibliography.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Behind the world's first manned flight were Orville and Wilbur Wright, two brothers with a dream and the determination to carry it out. In this rather dry biography, Old (The Wright Brothers: Inventors of the Airplane, for older readers) draws on a wealth of historical and personal facts (the brothers wore business suits during their beachside experiments; they lived at home and never married). She recounts the Wrights' childhood fascination with flying ("Many a night [Orville] lay in his bed in Dayton, Ohio, imagining what it would be like to swoop through the sky"), their experiments with kites and gliders, and the events of December 1903, when they flew four short flights off the dunes of Kitty Hawk, N.C. Clearly written passages explain how the brothers drew on their personal strengths Orville was the idea man, Wilbur the problem-solver to overcome such knotty scientific obstacles as air pressure (they built a wind tunnel in a washtub). The exhaustive details are well supported by Parker's (Cold Feet) sophisticated ink-and-wash illustrations, which resemble the fast, loose sketches of a scientific notebook and retain a suitably airy feel. His drawings of the brothers' Kitty Hawk attempts soar off the page and prove more inspiring than the academic tone of the writing. For young history and flying buffs, this book capably delivers the facts, then sends imaginations into flight on the wings of the illustrations. Ages 7-11.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5-Some may question whether anyone needs another book on the Wright brothers. What is there new to say? Many biographies sufficiently document their trials, errors, and successes. And like Russell Freedman's The Wright Brothers (Holiday, 1991), they benefit from careful research; the brothers themselves took and left copious notes and photographs. The advantage of this presentation is its style and accessibility and the story it tells of two brothers (alike in goals, different in personalities) who had ideas and kept at them, whose parents nurtured those ideas, that creativity, and critical thinking. Old takes readers along with a chronological approach and stops after the first heavier-than-air manned flight. She relates how two bicycle repairmen solved the problems that leading scientists of the time had been unable to master. She carefully and almost effortlessly helps youngsters to understand the steps: wind resistance, drag, the need for rounded front edges on a propeller, more accurate air-pressure tables. But her story ultimately shows how the brothers worked together-almost in tandem-like the bicycle wheels in their shop, and how each man's strengths complemented the other's. Parker's characteristic watercolors do more than inform Old's straightforward story. They help to set an inventive tone-a kind of experimental fluidity that floats through the book-as if something might be going to happen. And for young readers, something indeed does.
Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (September 23, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061813347X
• ISBN-13: 978-0618133475
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 11 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #318,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #65 in Books > Children's Books > Transportation > Aviation

More About the Author

Wendie Old began writing in high school but didn't get books published until the early 1990s. They immediately collected awards. Her series of middle school biographies each were honored with the NCSS/CBC Notable Book award from Social Studies teachers. TO FLY, THE STORY OF THE WRIGHT BROTHERS, Clarion 2002, a book for elementary school readers, won many awards -- one from all the teacher groups (except the Math teachers), Boston Globe - Horn Book Honor Book, ALA Notable Children's Book 2003, and was on many state reading lists.

She enjoys being a children's librarian in a public library. When she discovered the lack of information about Groundhog Day -- she wrote a book about that. (See if the groundhog near you is mentioned in that book. Most of them are.)

She writes picture books as well. Her first published picture book, Stacy Had a Little Sister, is still being used as bibliotherapy with children who have had siblings die of S.I.D.S.

Her other picture books were published under the pen name -- C.W. Bowie. She and two friends wrote them together and then combined their names to come up with C.W. Bowie. She's the "W" part of the name.

Her blog at wendieold.blogspot.com is called Wendie's Wanderings and it does exactly that. It rambles on about the writing life, happenings at her library (September is Spider Month, yikes!), book reviews, her grandchildren, and her many adventures while traveling and promoting her books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascination with Flying....., December 11, 2002

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers (Hardcover)

Wendie Old introduces Orville and Wilbur Wright, two bicycle repairmen from Dayton, Ohio, who dreamed of leaving the ground behind and soaring through the sky. From experiments with kites and gliders to the first self-propelled flying machine, the Wright brothers used ingenuity and imagination to do something no scientist had ever been able to master, fly a heavier-than-air machine..... Ms Old's easy to read and engaging text traces the lives, work, disappointments, and triumphs of these two unassuming dreamers, and her simple scientific explanations of things like wind resistance, drag, and air pressure bring the mysteries of flight to life in a simple and informative way. Robert Andrew Parker's stunning and evocative pen and water-color illustrations enhance the story with drama and wit, and imaginations will soar as kids watch the brothers' ideas come to life and take off. Perfect for youngsters 7-11, To Fly is an inspiring and intriguing biography that's sure to whet the appetite of young scientists and dreamers everywhere. "Watch buzzards,/Flying kites,/Lazy, crazy boys/The Wrights. They // Tried to fly/Just like a bird/Foolish dreamers/Strange. Absurd. We // Scoffed and scorned/Their dreams of flight/But we were wrong/And they were Wright. (Beverly McLoughland)"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two brothers from Dayton invent the first flying machine, May 21, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers (Hardcover)

"To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers" is a science lesson told as the opening chapter in the Age of Aviation. The story is about how Orville and Wilbur Wright went from flying kites to the first heavier-than-air manned flight (the book touches briefly on the initial skeptcism over their claims and their vindication five years later in France). Each chapter by Wendie Old consists of a page (maybe two) of text and an accompanying diagram, and the result is a sequential study of process by which kites became gliders and gliders became flying machines because of the Wright Brothers. The biographical elements become the backdrop for the invention of the airplane, focusing more on the unique working relationship that developed between the two brothers more than anything else. The illustrations by Robert Andrew Parker were executed in watercolor, which is appropriate to the subject matter; I was reminded, as you may be as well, of the famous drawings of DaVinci. The moral of the story is explained in the epilogue, where it was noted that the problem of making a flying machine work was not solved by scientists but by two bicycle repairmen from Dayton, Ohio. However, because of the way that Old tells the story, many young readers are going to be struck by the idea that what the Wright Brothers did is something that could have done. Ultimately, "To Fly" is not just informational, but inspirational as well.

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning level of detail for a children's book with wonderful illustrations, December 28, 2009

By 

Joel Avrunin "Electrical Engineer who loves S... (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers (Hardcover)

I am a science and aviation buff, and I have always loved the story of the Wright Brothers. Two brothers of average means with no formal scientific education (just good minds) beat the highly educated and well-funded government operation at discovering the secrets of flight. I find the story inspiring, and want my kids to understand that lots of people were trying to build airplanes---the Wright brothers methodically went about discovering what about flight was missing from the worlds' collective knowledge. They had to rewrite the "flight tables" that the world had accepted when they realized they were wrong.

The book also discusses how the brothers would "scrap", or argue a point until they had seen every logical connection through. I always teach my children to leave no stone unturned in an argument, and not to accept anything for face value but to require justification and proof that they can see.

Many books on the Wright's don't discuss Langley, Chanute, Charlie Taylor, or the development of the wind tunnel as a tool to test wing shapes on a limited budget. The level of detail is stunning for a children's book. I also found the watercolor illustrations quite beautiful.

As a note to parents--there is a lot of text in this book, although there is an illustration on at least one side of each open page. The book is enjoyed by a 4 year old in the family, but he has an incredible attention span. Younger kids or those used to lots of TV might get a little bored. I for one am glad to have a book not just on the airplane ,but on the innovative brothers who applied their brains to solve a problem nobody else could solve.