My Brothers' Flying Machine
Wilbur, Orville, and Me; Kitty Hawk 1903
By Jane Yolen 
Illustrated by Jim Burke

     This story, told from the viewpoint of Orville and Wilbur's younger sister Katherine, is a well researched historical novel. Yolen has written in a style that looks like free verse, and each page of text is faced with a beautiful painting by the talented, award winning, Jim Burke. According to the author's note in the back of the book, nearly all dialog and all the incidents are documented in letters, articles, interviews or diary entries.

     The Wright Brothers obsession with flight began with a toy flying machine that their father brought to them when they were very young. The years of running their own printing press made from a baby-buggy, building bicycles, and the boy's experimentation with manned flight, leads to their ultimate achievement of an airplane that works. The story builds to Katherine's first flight in the world-famous Kitty Hawk.

     Yolen's version of this wonderful achievement is exciting and really brings the Wright family to life. This is a wonderful story to share with the whole family, or for your young reader to enjoy alone.