ALA Booklist (Tue May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

As befits an entry in a series titled Epic Fails (after the lead author's history blog), this account of the efforts of the Wright brothers and other early aviators to get a flying machine into the air and, much trickier, to control it focuses on crashes, casualties, and setbacks. An opening quote from Douglas Adams ("There is an art to flying . . . The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss") sets the tone as, with cogent references to Icarus and Wile E. Coyote, the authors fill in the history of unpowered flight and then take the Wright brothers through a series of frustrating and often catastrophic learning experiences to triumph at Kitty Hawk. That triumph ultimately connects to Apollo 11, which landed on the moon with a piece of the first Wright Flyer aboard. Throughout, it's the stubborn determination of Wilbur, Orville, and their influential sister, Katharine, that shines through. A mix of sometimes comical pen-and-ink sketches and small period photographs illustrate this animated tribute to the spirit of invention.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Failure has been the hallmark of humans' attempts at flight, starting with the mythological figure Icarus. The Wright Brothers were no exception, but Slader shows how their perseverance ultimately led to success, including their contributions to aviation after their successful Kitty Hawk flight. A light, humorous tone and plenty of black-and-white illustrations and photos make this an engaging read. Timeline. Bib., ind.

Kirkus Reviews (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

If at first you don't succeed, try and try and try and try. In a series launch bent on showing how failure may be instructive, Thompson and Slader turn the story of the Wright Brothers into an amusing, bite-sized history lesson. History's early flight fiascos and successes are recounted, culminating in Orville and Wilbur Wright's. Over the years they would experiment, fail, learn from their mistakes, tinker, fail, and tenaciously pursue their dreams until they succeeded. Alas, troubles dog this well-intentioned series opener. An early statement that "It would seem that before man would learn to fly, he'd have to learn how to fall" prefaces a book that ignores the contributions (and failures) of such early women aeronauts as Sophie Blanchard. In a section on ballooning, a statement that the novel Around the World in Eighty Days was "about circling the globe in a hot air balloon" is incorrect (no ballooning occurs in that book). Attempts to appeal to child readers today yield awkward sentences that describe the brothers as "steampunk hipsters at Comic-Con" wrestling with the controls of the plane "like trying to play a multiplayer computer game with a really bad Internet connection." Artist Foley renders the text accessible with his lively pen-and-ink drawings, but they are too little, too late.It may not be epic, but this is certainly one launch that fails to get off the ground. (Nonfiction. 8-10)

School Library Journal (Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Gr 6-8 A fact-filled title sure to boost the confidence of aspiring inventors. Slader and Thompson write in a conversational and understanding tone: "If at first you don't succeedyou're not the only one. In fact, you're in pretty good company." The authors incorporate a number of valuable lessons and themes into their history of the Wright brothers. Middle schoolers will benefits from the reminder that discoveries and inventions happen in fits and starts. Though the Wrights were the first to successfully invent, build, and fly the first airplane, the history of aviation is ancient. The authors go back in time and trace the long record of human attempts at flight, including the ancient Greek myth of Icarus. The book is full of amusing black-and-white illustrations and photographs, which will attract readers. Students will particularly appreciate the inclusion of the Wrights' drawings that show "wing warping," which Wilbur Wright discovered while playing with a cardboard box. VERDICT An informative and humorous addition to middle school STEM biography collections. Lisa Gieskes, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC