What stood out to my dad and me in this book…

This is one of the last books I read aloud to my father. We were captivated by this book. When you read it, you will learn factual and interesting history related to aviation and you’ll experience illustrations that bring it all to life. Before reading it, I was only aware of the Wright Brothers’ breakthrough with their gliders at Kitty Hawk in 1903. But this story is centered around Wilbur Wright’s first flight in New York City in 1909. It was a significant flight over the Hudson River, circling the Statue of Liberty. We were surprised and entertained to learn that Wilbur attached a red canoe to his plane “just in case” (to make it into a makeshift floatplane if needed). You’ll see the red canoe in the pictures. Also, in the story, Wilbur notices the ocean liner, Lusitania, heading out to sea during this flight (and as he flew over, the ocean liner let out a mighty blast from its horn). Later we learned from the Author’s Notes at the end that the Lusitania went on to suffer a cruel fate during World War 1. It was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the southern coast of Ireland and of the 1,962 passengers and crew aboard at the time of the sinking, 1,197 lost their lives. Also, the Wright Brothers were not only brave but also cautious. They always made sure they would never be in the same plane together. This way, one would always be alive to carry out their work should the other crash. We were also shocked to learn that Wilbur died at 45 from typhoid fever. If you read this story, you will understand the excitement. Thousands of Americans came to watch and many were doubters. I can’t recommend this book enough. You owe it to yourself to read it with someone you love. Dad even specifically asked that I tell his long-time friend Clyde about the book, because this friend was a pilot and had flown the type of plane in the story.

This book was written by Robert Burleigh and can be read in under an hour.