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Wilbur and Orville Wright: Young Fliers
Presents the boyhood of the brothers who flew the first airplane in 1903.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1951
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 27, 2021
4.5? My kids love this series. Only 4.5 because it isn’t like Narnia or Charlotte’s Web, but still great reading for kiddos. I like them for assigned reading, though we did this one for a read-aloud to dovetail w our history.
July 1, 2022
I love how this book isn’t just facts about stuff like “The wright brothers were fond of flying so when they grew up they...” but it talks about childhood. I love how Orville gets into so much trouble! LOL! I think this is a great book for information because it also has some fun mixed in with it. I totally recommend this book.
January 10, 2026
We had a few bios from this Childhood of Famous Americans series. Usually Colonial Era (Crispus Attucks, Betsy Ross). I was fond of George Washington, also by this author. From a list at the front, this author also wrote Buffalo Bill, whom I looked up after someone in this book dresses up as him. (An illustration shows the boy in a costume that has a chinstrap beard and stovepipe hat like Abraham Lincoln.) I bet Buffalo Bill's childhood is exciting, since he rode for the Pony Express as a teen...
Wilbur and Orville had an interesting childhood as well. Of course, these two brothers who as adults became the pioneers of modern aviation need no introduction. But even after reading about them in the encyclopedia, I didn't know they had other siblings. This book introduces the rest of the Wright family: their father Reverend Milton Wright, mother Susan, older brothers Reuchlin (a.k.a. "Roosh") and Lorin, and younger sister Katie (which this book says is short for Katherine while the wiki says Katharine).
The book has a similar layout to Marguerite Henry's Robert Fulton, but I felt like there was more artistic license in this one. Events here reminded me of fables, highlighting the character traits of real people by using historical fiction. I liked this approach for several reasons. One was that younger readers who wish to emulate the Wrights can learn what made the duo successful: hard work and study, experimentation and persistence, careful planning and practice. Another reason was that the stories could encourage a younger reader to think "The Wright brothers used to be children just like me." Although I probably would have had a hard time telling which parts were true-to-life, I think as a boy I would have liked this book for its stories.
Henry's Robert Fulton had more perspectives, including opposers who branded the steamship as "Fulton's Folly." Not until I had finished this book and referred to the encyclopedia did I wonder if the airplane faced similar resistance. Why did the Wrights, who at one time made their own newspaper, have trouble gaining the public's attention with their first flights? It seemed to work out all right in the end, though, because the Wrights refined their designs in the interim. On a related note, the Wrights' experiments for improving air pressure tables of the day reminded me of Nat writing his Practical Navigator in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.
It helped me to have Wilbur, the elder brother, as the first name in the title. (And Orville sometimes goes by the nickname Orvy.) I've always confused the two; I think some of it's because Orville is the bird in Disney's 1977 film The Rescuers while Wilbur is in 1990's Rescuers Down Under. Speaking of rescues, parts in this book made me reflect on how useful aircraft have been in emergencies and search-and-rescue missions.
I've done a little work with aeronautics. One thing that's stood out to me is that altitudes are sometimes given in kft, or kilofeet, a Metric prefix with an English unit, something I haven't seen anywhere else. I'm wondering if exploring aerospace history some more will explain how that came about? Here, the airplane seemed to attract European interest easily. But then, so did Fulton's submarine... and I'm only too aware of the pitfall of confusing nautical miles (nmi or NM) with nanometers (nm)!
I think we had this author's Molly Pitcher and/or Clara Barton. (The covers of the books I remember us owning had the red-and-white banner behind the subject's portrait, but the ones I've found so far do not.) The one on Zeb Pike caught my eye. Might also check out those on Daniel Boone and Nathan Hale, while I'm at it. We must still have the George Washington one somewhere...
Wilbur and Orville had an interesting childhood as well. Of course, these two brothers who as adults became the pioneers of modern aviation need no introduction. But even after reading about them in the encyclopedia, I didn't know they had other siblings. This book introduces the rest of the Wright family: their father Reverend Milton Wright, mother Susan, older brothers Reuchlin (a.k.a. "Roosh") and Lorin, and younger sister Katie (which this book says is short for Katherine while the wiki says Katharine).
The book has a similar layout to Marguerite Henry's Robert Fulton, but I felt like there was more artistic license in this one. Events here reminded me of fables, highlighting the character traits of real people by using historical fiction. I liked this approach for several reasons. One was that younger readers who wish to emulate the Wrights can learn what made the duo successful: hard work and study, experimentation and persistence, careful planning and practice. Another reason was that the stories could encourage a younger reader to think "The Wright brothers used to be children just like me." Although I probably would have had a hard time telling which parts were true-to-life, I think as a boy I would have liked this book for its stories.
Henry's Robert Fulton had more perspectives, including opposers who branded the steamship as "Fulton's Folly." Not until I had finished this book and referred to the encyclopedia did I wonder if the airplane faced similar resistance. Why did the Wrights, who at one time made their own newspaper, have trouble gaining the public's attention with their first flights? It seemed to work out all right in the end, though, because the Wrights refined their designs in the interim. On a related note, the Wrights' experiments for improving air pressure tables of the day reminded me of Nat writing his Practical Navigator in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.
It helped me to have Wilbur, the elder brother, as the first name in the title. (And Orville sometimes goes by the nickname Orvy.) I've always confused the two; I think some of it's because Orville is the bird in Disney's 1977 film The Rescuers while Wilbur is in 1990's Rescuers Down Under. Speaking of rescues, parts in this book made me reflect on how useful aircraft have been in emergencies and search-and-rescue missions.
I've done a little work with aeronautics. One thing that's stood out to me is that altitudes are sometimes given in kft, or kilofeet, a Metric prefix with an English unit, something I haven't seen anywhere else. I'm wondering if exploring aerospace history some more will explain how that came about? Here, the airplane seemed to attract European interest easily. But then, so did Fulton's submarine... and I'm only too aware of the pitfall of confusing nautical miles (nmi or NM) with nanometers (nm)!
I think we had this author's Molly Pitcher and/or Clara Barton. (The covers of the books I remember us owning had the red-and-white banner behind the subject's portrait, but the ones I've found so far do not.) The one on Zeb Pike caught my eye. Might also check out those on Daniel Boone and Nathan Hale, while I'm at it. We must still have the George Washington one somewhere...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 1, 2025
This book covers the early life of Wilbur and Orville Wright, with only two chapters at the end about their years developing a plane with an engine that would fly. Even as young boys, they were creative and inventive.
March 15, 2018
Read this with my son for his homework. The early life of the Wright brothers was interesting he enjoyed it.
Read
February 17, 2020Great biography of the first fliers for kids.
July 16, 2021
Turtle: great! Return to library.
February 9, 2022
Fabulous book for children with themes of self reliance and ingenuity.
Read
November 14, 2023Ani- LLATL book study
January 22, 2024
Interesting biography for young readers. Good book series.
July 31, 2008
I am only rating one of these fabulous books in this particular series. My young children read and reread many of these titles and I can see by glancing through that new titles have been added. These books are lovingly wrapped and boxed at the request of our children because they want to be able to share them with the next generation someday. Build your library for young readers with some of these.
March 16, 2013
I really enjoyed the Wright Brothers. They had great parents and a good childhood that really affected their life. This book is full of thinking kids who work and solve their problems and challenges.
March 22, 2013
I really enjoyed reading about the Wright Brothers and the kind of parents that they had. Their parents would let them take things apart and build things. They would let the boys figure things out. Interesting to read a little about them.
January 31, 2008
Great!
June 24, 2008
This is one of a ton of books in the "Childhood of Famous American's" series. They make great read alouds for kids. This one spurred on lots of discussion about science. We loved it.
July 16, 2008
We read this series for the Knights of Freedom chapter I advise. The Wright Brothers were a big favorite...and their parents....well, I was inspired.
December 31, 2008
I read this with my kids before going to see a Wright Flier replica at an aerospace museum. We all really enjoyed it! My kids are excited about reading more of the books from this series. :)
June 6, 2010
My boys enjoyed this one, I just like the writing style as much as I did with the Lincoln and Edison books. But, still a great lesson on perserverence.
October 16, 2012
I thought it was cool that they flew the first plane and that they played with indians.
October 20, 2012
I remember reading this one (but with a green cover) when I was a child and enjoying it.
January 22, 2015
Very educational with a good moral message to kids.
February 21, 2015
This was a really good book!
April 8, 2015
I liked it
May 20, 2015
I read this with my nine year old son. He enjoyed hearing about the inventions and had me googling them so he could see what they looked like. Definitely a great book for young boys.
June 20, 2024
Another fun book for young kids, especially boys who like to build, create, and invent. The character lessons are not overbearing and the fictionalized childhood stories are funny and interesting.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews