Touching the Sky: The Flying Adventure of Wilbur and Orville Wright (bk 1) (64 pgs)

Borden, Louise and Trish Marx (2003). Touching the sky: the flying adventure of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Simon and Schuster. New York.

Summary:
Touching the Sky is a child friendly version of the story of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Borden and Marx use simply language to tell of the brother’s flight around New York and then their journey to Europe to exhibit their plane. The authors use this opportunity to tell the story of the Wright Brother’s rise to fame, telling of the route he flew on his exhibition around New York and all the people who came out to see the famous flight. They then tell of the brother’s journey to Europe and how stunned the people in that country were to see the “flying machine.” During the epilogue the author’s give a brief summary of the brother’s lives after their journey.

Author: Louis Borden and Trish Marx
Illustrator: Peter Fiore
Illustrations: The illustrations appear to be water color and they go along with the story line. Most of the illustrations appear on small sections of the pages but some of them do take up all of the two page spreads with the writing on top of the illustrations.
Access Features: Introduction, Epilogue, Maps, Aviation Time Line
Grade Level: K-3
Book Design: The book cover just contains an illustration of one of their first airplanes. The end pages are a wheat color and the pages are white with mostly text on them. The words are centered on the pages.
Writing Style: Some of the words in this book would be a little difficult for students to understand and might have to be explained. However, the story is a wonderfully simple story of the exhibitions of Wilbur and Orville Wright. The authors use very descriptive language to help paint a picture of the journey the brothers took on their first flight through New York and the exhibitions they made through Europe.
Curriculum: Social Studies
Classroom Use: This would be a great resource to use when teaching the story of the Wright Brothers and the story of flight and how the airplane came to be.
Standards: Social Studies-Standard 2: Time, Continuity, and Change; Standard 8: Science, Technology, and Society; Standard 9: Global Connections
Awards: Notable Social Studies Trade Book 2004
Author Credibility: Authors thank the New York City Museum, The New York Historical Society, Carillon Historical Park and members of the Wright family. The members of the family, while the may not have been present, are a primary resource used to obtain the information the authors were looking for. The Historical Society probably had documented records of the legendary flight, as well as the museum.
Related Texts: Fly High! The Story of Bessie Coleman by: Louise Borden; Airborne: A Photobiography of Wilbur and Orville Wright by: Mary Collins; Wilbur and Orville Wright: The Flight to Adventure by: Louis Sabin; Wilbur and Orville Wright: Trailblazers of the Sky by: Jennifer Reed; First to Fly: How Wilbur and Orville Wright Invented the Airplane by: Peter Busby and David Craig

Response:
This book put a different look on the story of Wilbur and Orville Wright’s invention and their subsequent fame. I really enjoyed reading this child friendly version of this piece of history. I also learned a lot about the Wright brothers that I didn’t know.