There are many reasons why I like this book! I think that it’s hard to find an interesting informational book. Since informational books state facts, sometimes they can be boring. This book did not just state boring facts! The book was very engaging for me, the reader. For example, the book pulled me in when the first page asked me a question. The introduction was “When you see a bird flying, do you dream about flying too? Do you run with your arms out, imagining that you’re souring among the clouds? Do you like kites? If you do, you aren’t alone. For thousands of years, people have dreams of being able to fly.” In my opinion, the introduction is very engaging and gets the reader’s attention quickly. I like how the introduction tries to relate to the reader. Another reason I liked this book was because of the language. The language was very explicit and descriptive when describing flying. The book was constantly giving definitions and explaining words that the reader is most likely confused about. For example, the book stated, “They learned about gravity. Gravity is the force that keeps everything on Earth’s surface. Because of gravity, things have weight. If there were no gravity, people, dogs, cats, and everything else would go floating off into space.” I loved how descriptive the author was with his language, he told me what gravity was, how it works, and gave an example. All of those techniques helped me fully understand. Another reason why I like this book is because the pictures are very colorful and engaging. The pictures take up the entire page and fit the written text. For example, on the page where the author is explaining gravity, there’s a picture of things floating in space. I think the picture is funny. On the page where they talk about wings, the picture shows a person trying to fly with his own handmade wings. On the page where it talks about different machines that people tried, it shows pictures of the different machines and people falling on the ground with their failed attempts. It was interesting to see the machines that people built compares to airplanes that we have today. Another reason why I liked this book was because it was very organized as the facts were told consecutively. The events were in order and made sense. For example, the text began with people watching birds. Then, people began designing machines, figuring out gravity and air, using kites, using wings, gliders and engines. People used all of their mistakes and eventually invented an airplane! I also like this book because there are interesting facts throughout the book. For example, on the page with the man trying to fly with his hand-made wings, there’s a fact in the corner that says, “In England, Monk Elimer broke his legs in A.D. 1010 after a 15-second flight.” There’s also a list of facts at the end of the book, one fact being “O Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first men to build and fly an airplane successfully. In 1903 their Wright Flyer rose into the air at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.” The last reason why I liked this book was because the ending relates to real life and gives an activity for the reader. There’s a flight activity in the back of the book showing the reader how to make a paper airplane. The activity includes steps and pictures to guide the reader. This way, the reader has a hand on example on how flying works. The last page of the book says “Today, thousands and thousands of people travel in airplanes every day, people really have learned how to fly!” This page brings me to the overall message of the book. I think the overall message of the book was to inform readers about how we learned to fly- it’s a process and failing is good because you learn more from your mistakes. ( )

This book starts out by explaining how people have wanted to learn to fly for thousands of years. It goes on to explain about how gravity keeps us on the ground, even when we want to fly. Next, the book explains how people learned about air and how molecules push against you even when you don't realize it. It goes on to explain drag, lift, gliders, engines, cargo and finally goes into the Wright Brothers.

This book goes through the history and science of humanity's quest to fly. It starts with early civilizations dreams and stories of people and animals that can fly, and discusses the forces of lift, drag, and gravity that all pertain to flight. It also touches on modern-day flight and how far technology has come in the past hundred years. This book even contains an interactive, "Flight School," paper airplane-building page in the back. ( )

This science book about flying explains the very basics of how flying came to be while asking questions to keep children engaged. I loved that it was in such simple terms yet I learned a thing or two!

I enjoyed this book. I like that the author conveys different types of messages throughout the book; not just information about learning to fly. For example, she gives a mini lesson about gravity and how, "gravity keeps us on the ground, even if we would rather be flying." I really like how she draws other information into the text. I also like the illustrations throughout the book. They're a little less detailed then I would have imagined, but they get the message across none the less. The author used great text features to explain how a propeller works and where the propeller is placed on a plane. This really helps the reader understand the importance of propellers and how a real airplane works. The overall goal of this book was to inform the audience about the evolution and science behind flying. ( )