The Flyers [Hardcover]

Allan Drummond (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Just in time for the 2003 centennial of the Wright brothers' historic flight

The arrival of Orville and Wilbur Wright in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, with their “crazy kite” of an airplane inspires five local kids to envision their own flying machines, from sky buses that could carry hundreds of people around the world to an unbelievable machine that could go to the moon! Following each step leading up to Orville Wright’s first history-making, twelve-second flight on December 17, 1903, the children take flights of their own, letting the ocean breeze catch their coattails as they dash across the dunes.

This whimsical tale comes to life with charming prose and airy watercolors, accompanied by a pictorial time line. The author’s tribute to the most wonderful flights of all – those of the imagination – lets us soar like the Wright brothers.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-This look at the Wright brothers' inaugural flight never gets off the ground. As Orville and Wilbur "fly their crazy kites," a young narrator and his friends also try to fly, scooting along the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, arms flapping amid Drummond's pen-and-wash whorls and swirls, suggestive of the prevailing winds of the Outer Banks. The children provide the dialogue and asides to move the story along. They have the facts straight, and the Wrights are pictured in their usual, carefully knotted neckties and stiff collars along with their Flyer, the first airplane capable of powered sustained flight. Unfortunately, the youngsters also prattle on about what type of aircraft they would like to one day operate, and modern conveyances in sprightly pastels begin to sail across the pages. The images projected are right in step with today's youth, but less likely (even in the imagination) to occur to a child of 1903. The juxtaposition is slightly jarring. One boy imagines dropping "rocks and water bombs" on his young enemies. With a nod to political correctness, another youngster, the only girl and person of color, imagines flying to Africa to "scare the elephants and monkeys." The final spread briefly outlines aviation firsts; these highlights are a bit spotty and not exactly arranged in clear chronological order. Wendie Old's To Fly (Clarion, 2002) is head and shoulders above this slight, unfocused fare.
Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. As the Wright brothers carry on their experiments at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, five local children observe the men, play, and dream. One of the boys serves as narrator, relating what the children see and what they talk about among themselves. Jamie imagines taking a friend up for a ride in a flyer; the narrator extends this vision into a flying bus; Josie plans a flight to explore Africa; Davey thinks of dropping rocks from a "flying war machine"; little Henry sees himself flying to the moon, a dream so ludicrous that everyone laughs. Light, airy ink drawings, tinted with delicate washes, picture the children's flights of fancy, comfortably coexisting with historical scenes of the brothers' work at Kitty Hawk. The final double-page spread offers a visual time line from the Wrights' 1903 flight to the 1969 moon walk. Many books on the Wright brothers have appeared recently, but few offer such a child-centered perspective of the men and their work. This will make a lively companion to more traditional books on the first controlled powered flight. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (September 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374324107
• ISBN-13: 978-0374324100
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,931,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Story of boys who witness the Wright Brother's first flight, July 19, 2010

By 

DeeDee Fox "Dee Dee Fox" (Rapid City, SD, US) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Flyers (Hardcover)

This story, of a young child who is witness to the events leading up to the first flight ever made by the Wright Brothers documents that historic flight while capturing the imagination of young children who wish they could also fly. They envision planes large enough to carry large groups of people and even imagine planes that can take them into outer space. - At the back of the book there is a time line of air travel beginning with the Wright Brother's first flight in 1908 and ending with the first man walking on the moon in 1969

DeeDee Fox, author and illustrator, The Ruby Red Slippers