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Gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the invention of the airplane. Additional features include a table of contents, a Fast Facts spread, critical-thinking questions, primary source quotes and accompanying source notes, a phonetic glossary, an index, and sources for further research.

Schoolmates Dominique, Eric, Josephine, and Ajay are excited about a field trip to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. When they get there, however, they find a very different museum than the one they were expecting. Not only is it much smaller, it's filled with balloons, blimps, and dirigibles, many of them with the same logo: BARRIS AIRSHIPS. Where's the Spirit of St. Louis? Where's the Apollo 11 command module? Where's the Wright Brothers'...

This first story in an exciting new graphic novel series begins with the tale of Orville and Wilbur Wright, brothers living at the dawn of the 20th century when flight was still a fanciful thought. But the duo would not let their dream to fly die, braving heavy winds, rain, sandstorms, and crashes to build the very first successful flying machine. Full-color illustrations.

At least as far back as the ancient myth of Icarus, humans longed to fly- but it wasn't until December 17, 1903, on the windy dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, that the dream finally came true. And it was all thanks to Orville and Wilbur Wright, two former bicycle mechanics who built their first toy plane- a rubber-band powered rotary- when they were just children. Find out how the two brothers, working quietly and persistently, ultimately solved...