How People Learned to Fly

Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2

by Fran Hodgkins

How People Learned to Fly by Hodgkins, Fran [HarperCollins, 2007] Hardcover [...

Genres: Science, History, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Childrens, 1st Grade

Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

Fran Hodgkins always loved nature and science, and loved writing as well, so it seemed only logical that she would grow up to write about science and nature for children. Her first book, The Orphan Seal, received the Henry Bergh Children's Book Award from the ASPCA. Her book How People Learned to Fly is an exemplar in the Common Core ELA standards.

Fran has written more than 20 books for young readers. Her most recent, The Secret Galaxy, came out in October 2014 from Tilbury House Publishers.

Fran lives in Midcoast Maine.

Reviews

[Carley Moisio]

This book talks about the beginning trials of learning to fly and why people and things cannot fly. It talks about gravity and air flow and how certain wings create lift. It also explains how the Wright Brothers created the first airplane.
I would use this in my classroom for a science lesson and then have students try and build something that will fly out of paper and other materials.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

How did human beings learn how to fly? This is a simple history of aviation through the ages. This Goodreader is pleased to report, this book is unpretentious, which is a refreshing change from some other books I've read, books intended to teach science to early readers.

All the history here is accompanied by colorful illustrations, upbeat and cheerful. Like that, the text gives a simple version of aviation history. And thank you, author Fran Hodgkins: There are no baby book rhymes.

Readers learn historical facts like these:

* Back in the day some inventors built wings for their arms and flapped them like birds.
* Some invented attempted to fly with balloons,
* Others glided in the wind. Nice try, folks!

I LIKE THE WRITING A LOT

Here's a sample:

Kites were useful and fun, but people
wanted more.
They wanted to fly like birds.

Birds had something that kids didn't.
Birds had wings.

FIVE STARS, richly deserved for this book.

[Sarah Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This playful history of flight travels through time, from ancient fascinations with flying to early contraptions and risky (mostly-failed) attempts to the first successful gliders and planes. Throughout, children learn, as the inventors did, about concepts like gravity, air flow, lift, and draft.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

AR 3.8

[Suzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple yet interesting book about how flying works.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice introduction to how things fly.

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty straightforward informational text. Wished it could have included helicopters.

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a stage 2 reader, this book was appropriate. It introduced the basics and contained some helpful facts. I could definitely see this book as an intro for younger kids as part of a thematic study.

[Yahira Romero · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not really enjoy this book. The book doesn't have a story line to it. The book does contain valuable information that children would love to read and learn about.

[♡ Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!