School Library Journal Starred Review

Gr 4-8-- What unusual people the Wright brothers were! Despite a four-year difference in age, the two grew up to be as close as twins, a patient bachelor pair who methodically set out to prove the possibility of powered, controlled human flight. Just as methodically, they promoted their new flying machine, made lots of money, and overcame the U. S. government's stubborn lack of interest. In his own inimitable way, Freedman takes readers back to that exciting time, using not only the Wrights' written descriptions and the accounts of awed observers, but also a large selection of the careful photographs that Wilbur and Orville took to document their experiments. After an opening chapter to set the stage, the author creates a detailed family portrait. He closes with discussions of the photographs, sites to visit, and sources of further information about the Wright brothers. Freedman's achievement is as splendid as those of his subjects. --John Peters, New York Public Library

Horn Book

Photographs. The Wright brothers' deep commitment to the idea of a flying machine and their contribution to aviation history are the focus of this superb, beautifully rendered, completely engrossing book. Fine photographs, many taken by Orville and Wilbur Wright, provide striking views of the early airplanes and of the people involved. Bibliography, index.

Kirkus Reviews

Using illuminating facts and incidents to place the story of this monumental achievement in the history of aeronautics and in the brothers' personal lives, Freedman focuses on the events that led to the first successful flight and on the Wrights' subsequent improvements on their invention. Diagrams and lucid explanations of the principles of flying make the years of tinkering, experimenting, reasoning, and problem-solving even more fascinating. Though Freedman doesn't characterize Wilbur and Orville in depth, he does provide telling glimpses of the two unmarried brothers devoting themselves to working enthusiastically and amiably together (They tinkered and fussed and muttered to themselves from dawn to dusk,'' reported one observer,...At no time did I ever hear either of them render a hasty or ill-considered answer...''). In Freedman's deceptively relaxed narrative, the facts themselves are disarming: e.g., the local postmaster helped to haul the planes back uphill, and the fire brigade came regularly to stand by. The brothers' own excellent photos, reproduced in a generous size, make an outstanding contribution to both format and authenticity; they're well supplemented with appropriate additional photos. Like Lincoln (Newbery Medal, 1988), this is familiar but retold in a manner so fresh and immediate that reading it is like discovering the material for the first time. Index. (Nonfiction. 9+)"

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Newbery winner Freedman ( Lincoln: A Photobiography ) has again produced a vivid, superior biography. This time focusing on a well-known pair of brothers, he effectively transforms our perception of the subjects as distant cultural icons into tireless, flesh-and- blood heroes. In understated, involving prose--skillfully laced with pertinent excerpts from journals, letters and contemporary accounts--Freedman lays out a clear and compelling history of the early aviation experiments that culminated in the legendary flight at Kitty Hawk. As with Lincoln , photographs are integral to Freedman's exposition and he makes ample, effective use of the many astonishing photos taken by the brothers in order to better document their experiments. Youngsters cannot fail to come away with a heightened understanding of the Wrights' dedication to manned flight and to the painstakingly slow process of invention. Ages 10-up. (Apr.)