The Wright Brothers: First in Flight

Sterling Biographies

by Tara Dixon-Engel, Mike Jackson

At least as far back as the ancient myth of Icarus, humans longed to fly—but it wasn’t until December 17, 1903, on the windy dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, that the dream finally came true. And it was all thanks to Orville and Wilbur Wright, two former bicycle mechanics who built their first toy plane—a rubber-band powered rotary—when they were just children. Find out how the two brothers, working quietly and persistently, ultimately solved the “flying problem” that had grounded so many others; what setbacks they experienced as they developed and improved their machine (including a tragic crash); and what additional “firsts” followed after they triumphantly took to the skies..

Genres: Biography, History, Nonfiction

124 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

Reviews

[Olivia Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also used this for a history project. And also, super helpful!

[Mel B · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is great

[Nirjhar Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The intriguing biography, “The Wright Brothers: First in Flight”, written by Tara Dixon-Engel and Mike Jackson, is about the lives of Orville Wright and Wilbur Right, the inventors of the world’s first successful plane. As children, they were interested in tinkering and making machines. When they became adults, they started to work in a bicycle shop; then, the world started to explore aviation, and the two Wright brothers decided to go to Kitty Hawk to try and invent manned flight for the first time. The Wrights faced lots of challenges, not only the simple concepts lift, gravity, drag, and thrust, to make man fly for the first time…

Overall, the book was pretty good. The author enhanced the story by adding old, genuine photos of the Wrights and their machine’s parts and designs. The author also referred to other aviators at that time, such as Samuel Pierpont Langley, who constructed the Aerodrome, which turned out to be a huge failure. If the author had described a bit more about what materials were used to design the plane, then I would be happy. All in all, this book was pretty good and has some nice quotes for someone who would like to research the Wrights.

[Loulou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the biography of two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright who made tremendous contributions to aviation. As kids living in Dayton, Ohio, their parents, especially their mother, encouraged their curiosity to figure out how a mechanical object worked. They were fascinated by a toy plane and when it stopped working, they fixed it. As they got older, they became bicycle mechanics by teaching themselves how bikes worked. Eventually, they began designing bikes. Unfortunately the Wrights were not rich and the two brothers were plagued with health problems throughout their life like Appendicitis and Typhoid. Despite health issues, lack of money, and engineering problems, the two brothers continued to study the works of all the aviation researchers that they can find. For example, the two brothers were influenced by the German, Otto Lilienthal, who died in a tragic accident. After years of studying, hard work, and trials, the two brothers made history in December 17 of 1907 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It was the first powered airplane flight piloted by Wilbur. They chose that beach because it was a windy place which provided lift to the plane. This was possible because the Wright brothers had solved the engineering problems that many aviation scientists before them could not solve.

Themes:
Passion: The Wright brothers loved their toy plane and so, they developed a passion for flying especially since they already liked to figure out how mechanical objects worked.
Perseverance: With health, money, and other obstacles, the Wright brothers kept trying and eventually made the first flying plane. So, if you find something you are passionate about and keep trying even after many failures, then you will eventually succeed.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Wright Brothers First in Flight is part of a series of biographies by Sterling Publishing. The book contains an introduction, 12 chapters, a glossary, and index. As far as biographies go this is an outstanding chapter biography for elementary students. The layout is impeccable and includes text, illustrations, photographs, maps, documents, side bars, captions, quotes, and more. Students will be captivated by the story of the Wright brothers, as well as reading about their childhoods and life before flying - including other interests such as publishing and bicycles. I strongly recommend this biography and am looking forward to reading more in the series.

[Nick Lueder · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good book about the Wright Brothers.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply Great!

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned quite a lot about the Wright brothers in this short biography.