First to Fly: How Wilbur and Orville Wright Invented the Airplane

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

The story of Wilbur and Orville Wright, better known as the Wright
brothers, has been told many times, but Peter Busby and David Craig
bring it freshly alive.

Busby relates the brothers’ story in a well-written text that covers
everything from flying kites to their celebrated first flight on
December 17, 1903, when the brothers became the first to fly a powered
airplane—and changed the world—to the 1908 air crash that seriously
injured Orville. Busby also includes a series of sidebars that cover a
range of topics, from “Otto Lilienthal: The Flying Man” (which is
about the aerial pioneer who influenced the Wrights), to “How Does
Wing-Warping Work?” (which explains the mechanics of flying), to
“The Bicycle Craze” (which looks at the social history of the
period). The text is illumined by full-page, full-color dramatic
paintings, diagrams, and small archival photographs (e.g., the first
picture of the first flight).

Busby lives in Vancouver, where he writes novels, screenplays, and
nonfiction. First to Fly is his first book for children. David Craig
illustrates books for children and adults. Included among his works is a
series of paintings commemorating the 50th anniversary of World War II.

This large-format book should interest all readers, young and old.
First to Fly offers a sturdy, handsome, and dramatic version of a
well-known and highly significant event. Recommended.