CBC Reviewer (National Science Teachers Association (NSTA))
From the building of kites and gliders to the successful development of the airplane, the reader is introduced to the work of the Wright Brothers. Far from an ordinary biography, this NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book gives readers insight into the inquiry strategies modeled by the Wright brothers as they attempted to solve the many problems they encountered in their quest to build a flying machine. Colorful illustrations help the elementary reader visualize the various stages in the invention process. This is an ideal choice to introduce students to the way inventors and engineers work. The epilogue reinforces the fact that inventions are often the result of the collaborative efforts of several individuals. There are notes and suggestions for further reading as well as an index and a timeline to help integrate this content with social studies. Grades 3-5. 2002, Clarion Books, 48p, $16.00. Ages 8 to 11.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, November 2002 (Vol. 56, No. 3))
While Samuel Langley of the Smithsonian Institute, cushioned by government grants, struggles with prototypes of an officially promising flying machine, sibling bicycle builders Wilbur and Orville tinker with the same dream in their Ohio shop, taking annual jaunts to North Carolina to test each year’s improvements. At the close of 1903, a fifty-nine-second flight near Kitty Hawk demonstrates that humans can achieve sustained, powered, controlled flight, and the rest, so it goes, is history. Material abounds on the Wright Brothers’ seminal contributions to aviation, but Old’s presentation is particularly smooth reading, sharply focused on specific aeronautic challenges and the brothers’ harmonious efforts to overcome them. Short chapters marking their milestones clearly convey how each man’s peculiar outlook, insight, or skill contributed to their joint effort, and how patient research and experimentation set them on a divergent path from Langley, who too easily accepted popular but erroneous preconceptions of aerodynamic principles. Parker’s spidery ink lines and watercolor washes in scenes of airy beach and cramped workroom impart a sophisticated cachet that should convince middle-grade readers this is no childish picture book; a timeline, index, bibliography, and even specific source notes for quotations further support the needs and interests of fully independent readers. Squeeze the overcrowded 620s a bit tighter together--Old’s offering claims a Wrightful place. Review Code: R* -- Denotes books of special distinction. (c) Copyright 2002, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2002, Clarion, 48p, $16.00. Grades 3-5.