Tag: Wright Brothers

Posted in Intermediate, Middle Grade, Non-fiction, Non-Fiction

Epic Fails! New series nonfiction looks at the not-so-great moments in history

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Wright Brothers: Nose-Diving into History (Epic Fails #1), by Erik Slader & Ben Thompson/Illustrated by Tim Foley, (July 2018, Roaring Brook Press), $6.99, ISBN: 978-1-250-15056-1

Recommended for readers 7-11

Say the names Orville and Wilbur Wright, and people automatically think of airplanes. They were the first self-taught engineers, after all, to achieve flight. But success didn’t come easy, and there were a lot of fails before their 12-second success. Epic Fails is a new non-fiction series for intermediate and middle grade readers that details some of history’s biggest successes – and the failures that went hand-in-hand with them.

Written with a humorous tone, readers will learn about the previous attempts made before the Wright Brothers were even born; the nosedives and crashes, and the lessons learned from each misstep that led to success. Filled with black-and-white illustrations and photos, a timeline of flight, a bibliography, and an index, this is a handy additional resource for schoolwork, and a fun read that delivers the message that it’s okay if that science project, that school paper, or that great model rocket you were building doesn’t work the first time. Or the second time. Or multiple times. It’s okay to not be perfect, because it really is part of the learning process. That’s a pretty great message to communicate to our kids, isn’t it?

Add to your STEM/STEAM reading lists, and display with the Science Comics volume on Flying Machines, and maybe some instructions for paper airplanes. Fold ‘N Fly is a searchable database of free paper airplane designs, filtered by difficulty, type, and whether or not you want to use scissors to cut them, manipulating air flow. Sweet!

Posted in Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Non-Fiction, Non-fiction, Tween Reads

Science Comics takes to the skies with Flying Machines

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Science Comics: Flying Machines, by Alison Wilgus/Illustrated by Molly Brooks, (May 2017, :01First Second), $12.99, ISBN: 9781626721395

Recommended for readers 8-12

This latest installment of Science Comics introduces readers to Katharine Wright, sister to Wilbur and Orville Wright. When their mother died, Katharine stepped in to take over running the family household, which included corresponding with Wilbur and Orville as they traveled, both in the process of getting their first flight airborne and later, as they traveled through America and Europe. Here, she serves as the reader’s guide through the history of aviation. We learn about European aviation enthusiasts, and the race for funding and progress between the Wright Brothers – owners of a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio – and the titled European men working toward the same cause.

Readers gets detailed names and statistics on the Wright brothers’ flyers, and a look at the frustrating mechanical failures and serious injuries, including one fatality, leading up to that first historic flight. Readers also meet historic aviators who came after the Wright Brothers, including Frank Whittle, inventor of the turbojet engine, and who came There’s an incredible amount of detail in this volume- aviation enthusiasts will love it.

An appendix with short biographies on other aviation pioneers, a biography on Katharine Wright, a glossary of aviation terms, and a list of further reading round out this volume. Providing readers with a look into history and aviation technology, Science Comics: Flying Machines is a solid add to STEM collections and reinforces the fact that comic books DO belong in the classroom.