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The Wright Brothers: A Flying Start
As young men, Orville and Wilbur Wright had a dream. They believed that one day people would fly, and they were determined to be the first. Despite setbacks that would have discouraged many inventors, the Wright brothers' dream came true. From a windy sand dune near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they made a short 36-meter flight -- and flew into aviation history. This biography in the Snapshots: Images of People and Places in History series uses photographs, newspaper clippings, maps, quotes and drawings to explore the Wright brothers' struggles. Also included are timelines of their lives and the history of flight, and a listing of pertinent Web sites.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2000
About the author
Elizabeth MacLeod
133 books29 followersElizabeth MacLeod was born on October 21 in Toronto. As a child Liz liked to read Nancy Drew and Anne of Green Gables books, swim, sing, dance, and hang out with her friends. Encouraged by her parents, she began writing stories and poetry for her own enjoyment at the age of 10, her favorite subjects being mad scientists and tyrants who threatened to take over the world.
Today Liz is inspired by almost anything--her friends, reading, and the funny, beautiful world around her. Her first job in publishing was at OWL magazine, and Liz credits editor Sylvia Funston as one of her mentors. Liz also names Valerie Wyatt, a writer and editor, as an important influence on her work, as well as a good friend.
An avid reader, Liz enjoyed digging up amazing facts and researching historic royals and their countries and customs for Royal Murder (2008). She encourages anyone with a desire to write to "just do it." Even if no one ever reads it, the joy that comes from expressing yourself through words is reward enough. Liz adds that writing takes practice, and with each day you are bound to improve.
Liz lives in Toronto with her husband, Paul, and their two cats, Smedley and Cosmo.
She enjoys keeping active, spending time with friends, music, theater, and cheering on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Liz plans to continue writing about a broad spectrum of topics in both fiction and non-fiction, and would like to work on more picture books in the future.
Today Liz is inspired by almost anything--her friends, reading, and the funny, beautiful world around her. Her first job in publishing was at OWL magazine, and Liz credits editor Sylvia Funston as one of her mentors. Liz also names Valerie Wyatt, a writer and editor, as an important influence on her work, as well as a good friend.
An avid reader, Liz enjoyed digging up amazing facts and researching historic royals and their countries and customs for Royal Murder (2008). She encourages anyone with a desire to write to "just do it." Even if no one ever reads it, the joy that comes from expressing yourself through words is reward enough. Liz adds that writing takes practice, and with each day you are bound to improve.
Liz lives in Toronto with her husband, Paul, and their two cats, Smedley and Cosmo.
She enjoys keeping active, spending time with friends, music, theater, and cheering on the Toronto Maple Leafs. Liz plans to continue writing about a broad spectrum of topics in both fiction and non-fiction, and would like to work on more picture books in the future.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 5, 2020
Read this with the grandson and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We loved the information we learned and the facts that we had never known about the Wright Brothers.
September 9, 2010
Reason for Reading: Read aloud to the 10yo as part of our history curriculum.
Wonderful brief biography of the Wright Brothers concentrating on their invention of the airplane. Some time is spent on their childhood, bicycle shop and printing days before they got serious working on the gliders and flying machines. Written in an engaging narrative text, the story is told over two page spreads which are heavily illustrated with photos of the Wrights in action and of contemporary items and places. Once the main block of text has been read the captions to the illustrations further explain what has been read in the section. My son loved this book, as he did the previous book in the series we have read on Helen Keller and Alexander Graham Bell. A lot of information is imparted in the limited number of pages in an interesting voice and the illustrations are enough to keep even the youngest listener captive. Highly enjoyable.
Wonderful brief biography of the Wright Brothers concentrating on their invention of the airplane. Some time is spent on their childhood, bicycle shop and printing days before they got serious working on the gliders and flying machines. Written in an engaging narrative text, the story is told over two page spreads which are heavily illustrated with photos of the Wrights in action and of contemporary items and places. Once the main block of text has been read the captions to the illustrations further explain what has been read in the section. My son loved this book, as he did the previous book in the series we have read on Helen Keller and Alexander Graham Bell. A lot of information is imparted in the limited number of pages in an interesting voice and the illustrations are enough to keep even the youngest listener captive. Highly enjoyable.
May 8, 2015
I enjoyed reading this biography on the Wright Brothers. After reading it, I felt inspired and saw perseverance from the two men. This book would be awesome to use in the classroom to teach about famous inventors, history lesson on the air plane, or two great men of USA history and entrepreneurship. After reading this book aloud I would then do a lesson on entrepreneurs and inventions. I would recommend this book to any students that are creative, like to build things, and want to be inspired. This book provided not only the history of the Wrights' lives but also the history of the air plane. This book had excellent graphs, photos, quotes, and a helpful design making it easier to read.
July 18, 2010
This book brings the Wright brothers to life for children through pictures and captions. Humanizes them by explaining their differences and similarities. Most importantly the book makes direct links between some of their discoveries to innovations used on airplanes today.
October 18, 2010
This book is about the Wright brothers. It has neat tidbits of information and questions posed by cartoon Wright brothers. Students will enjoy the layout of the book which will encourage them to read more. It is part of the custom box.
November 8, 2010
This was a wonderfully illustrated biography about Orville and Wilbur Wright. I understood the reason they desired to create a power engined glider, where they came from, and how they got to the point of flying a plane in Kitty Hawk, NC in 1903. Very interesting.
August 2, 2009
Bien fait. Très utile pour les recherches aux premier et deuxième cycle du primaire.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews