Let's Bust a Recap : The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk

For some reason I thought for sure I had already recapped this, but I definitely didn't and that's a shame because this was a great little biography. So we're recapping it now!

Back on the very last day of May, my little sister's F-22 class graduated at Langley, and naturally my entire family showed out to witness it. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sarah is the coolest person in our family and in all of creation for that matter (ask any of us, we'll all say the same thing). So here come the Osbornes from all over the country and you know your girl had a stack of books with her for the trip, but did I think to bring one single book that would be appropriate for me to read aloud to my niece and nephews? I surely did not. Did that stop us from reading a book together? Do you know me at all? Fortunately for all of us, my sister had this little Scholastic biography of the Wright brothers at her house, so we immediately set out to learn all about the birth of aviation which was totally on brand for the weekend anyway. 

Donald J. Sobol is better known for his Encylopedia Brown series, but he also wrote a number of non-fiction books on topics ranging from the US Civil War to investing. This little gem was published in 1961 and details the Wright brothers' endeavors to invent, build, and fly the world's first successful airplane. They succeeded on December 17, 1903 when they made the first controlled, sustained flight of an engine-powered, heavier-than-air aircraft at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. 

Orville and Wilbur were two out of Milton and Susan Wright's seven children and it was their work in their Dayton, Ohio bicycle shop that led to their determination to build an engine-powered flying machine. Neither of them received high school diplomas, but they are the fathers of flight. It was truly amazing reading about their process, and since Cody and I were able to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial a couple years ago, it was easy for me to envision the events being described in the book. Sobol did an admirable job of distilling a lot of technical information into a book that kids (and a grown-up like me who is not a math-lover) can enjoy and learn from. My niece and nephews were as interested in the content as I was and when we weren't able to quite finish the book at my sister's house, I was able to get it from our local library and we finished it shortly after getting back home. 

I wish the Wright brothers could see how far we've come since their wobbly 1-man, 852-feet, 59-second flight back in 1903. Could they ever have imagined in their wildest dreams the badass jet my sister flies now? (Pardon my language, but there's just no other word that will do. It's a Raptor, for crying out loud!) Do you think they would believe that just 66 short years later we put a man on the moon? Or that every single day, people all over the world board giant airplanes to get places like it's just another day? Human ingenuity is truly a marvel, and it's so inspiring to read about the best and brightest among us. Orville and Wilbur Wright's achievements in aviation undeniably changed the world, and I'm glad I got to read this book with my niece and nephews. I hope they realize through stories like this one that they really can do anything they set their minds to. 

What stories inspire you?