Wee and the Wright Brothers by Timothy R. Gaffney

by Timothy R. Gaffney

Wilbur and Orville began packing the Flyer into a wooden crate. Wee's little heart skipped a beat. "They're getting ready to go to Kitty Hawk," he told his family. "If only I could go and watch them fly. What a story it would make."

Join one indomitable mouse as he
takes off on the ride of his life

Wee is a journalist who will stop at nothing to get his story. Wee is also . . . a mouse. And what better time and place for a mouse than a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, during the year 1903? Wee could think of no place he'd rather be. Except-just maybe-in the air!

Will Wee get his sky excursion, his big story for the Mouse News? With the Wright brothers around, Wee's sure to be going places. In this charming picture book, fact and (a little) fiction work together to tell a thrilling story about one courageous mouse.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

Hardcover

First published September 1, 2004

About the author

Timothy R. Gaffney was born in Dayton in 1951 and has lived in the Miami Valley most of his life. After earning a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University in Columbus in 1974, he worked for the Piqua Daily Call, the Kettering-Oakwood Times and the Dayton Daily News, where he took early retirement at the end of 2006. Since then he has held positions as assistant media relations director for Wright State University and director of communications for the National Aviation Heritage Area. He is a former volunteer trustee for the United States Air and Trade Show Inc., the nonprofit producer of the Dayton Air Show. He lives in Miamisburg, Ohio, with his wife, Jean. They have four grown children, two grandchildren and two dogs.

Reviews

[sincerely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet book to introduce the Wright Brothers to young readers.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good intro to flight and the Wright brothers.

Two strands to the story: historical info about the Wright brothers and a fictional account of a mouse family who lived in the Wrights' bicycle shop.

The author has written additional info at the end of the book — one page 'About the Wright Brothers,' and one page 'About Wee the Mouse.' That's where we learn that,

Wee's story is fictional, but a mouse did share the Wright brothers' camp in 1902. Orville described how he had spent 'whole days' building a trap for the mouse and baiting it with cornbread, only to find the cornbread gone and the trap empty. 'My respect for the intelligence of that wee beastie has grown wonderfully the last week,' he wrote years later.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sweetest! Wonderful illustrations and great writing. It's a fantastic introduction to the Wright story for kids (so many facts and details!) and so much fun to read even as an adult — especially after coming to love Orville's written account of that "wee beastie".

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew that Wilbur and Orville Wright were visited by a little mouse and outsmarted by his cunning intelligence? This story is about Wee, a journalist mouse, living with his family in the Wright Brothers’ bicycle shop. To get the story of a lifetime, Wee decides to travel with Wilbur and Orville for the testing of their flying machine at Kitty Hawk. Wee witnesses great adventure as he gets the opportunity to fly on the first airplane flight known to mankind. The colorful illustrations complement the story well as their larger than life quality works to portray things as a mouse would see them. Readers of this book will get to learn about a notable time in history from the perspective of a little mouse, almost as if they were able to be there with him on that significant day.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice history of the Wright Brothers told through the eyes of a little reporter mouse that hitches a ride on their historic flight.

Cute illustrations.