ALA Booklist

This title, part of the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series, provides basic information about flight through brief, lively text and cheery, brightly colored illustrations. Hodgkins delivers the facts and physics simply and accessibly: "If there were no gravity, people, dogs, cats, and everything else would go flying off into space"; lift is "the force that keeps wings and gliders in the air." She also explains how engines and the principles of thrust work together to get heavy aircraft off the ground and soaring. The conversational text allows the facts to be absorbed easily, and droll details in the watercolor art add to the friendly feel. Appended are some additional flying facts and an activity with a paper airplane that allows kids to see firsthand a few of the principles Hodgkins has talked about. Even kids usually intimidated by science will find this an appealing introduction.

Horn Book (Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

Hodgkins does an admirable job connecting complex ideas for an easy-to-understand explanation of flight. After a quick aerodynamics lesson, she covers such topics as people's attempts to mimic birds and how jets fly. The cheery, colorful illustrations depict movement well (though they're less helpful in portraying the difficult concepts of lift, drag, and thrust). A paper airplane experiment is appended.

Kirkus Reviews

Hodgkins's entry in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series draws a visual timeline from centuries back, when humans' dreams of flying evolved into reality. The succinct, simplified text cites human efforts to fly like birds and describes the aeronautical physics of gliding using drag force, thrust and lift. Kelley's breezy illustrations convey a buoyant tone and keep the explanations understandable for curious young minds. Two pages of backmatter provide "Flying Facts" and instructions for making a paper airplane. Lightly touching on everything from the days of imagining the winged Icarus and dreaming of wings to today's nonchalance about air travel, this is a welcome addition to easy science books about humans and flight. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-9)

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3-From the first disastrous attempts at human flight, to the Wright brothers' groundbreaking success at Kitty Hawk, to today's common use of airplanes for travel, this book explains the development of aircraft and the scientific principles behind them. Complex ideas, such as gravity and lift, are made accessible through concise explanations and excellent illustrations and diagrams, which are always bright, clear, and appealing. Readers will relate to the inviting, conversational text, and the simple experiment with paper airplanes will engage the target audience. A fabulous introduction.-Amanda Moss, Maywood Elementary School, Monona, WI Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.