The Wright Brothers: Nose-Diving into History (Epic Fails #1)

The authors, Slader and Thompson, immediately draw student-readers into a conversation in the first two sentences of the introduction to the book--“If at first you don’t succeed…you’re not the only one. In fact, you’re in pretty good company.” They quickly move into narrating an epic fail of the Wright brothers which includes the following –As the bystanders watched, Wilbur Wright and his wooden glider face-planted into a sandy dune. Undeterred except for a slightly bruised ego (people laughing at you is never all that much fun), Wilbur got back up, dusted himself off, and got ready for another try. P. 2Chapters 1 & 2 review the history of failure in the area of aviation and then Chapter 3 returns to the Wright brothers, beginning with their childhood.I’d recommend this as an independent read to savvy 3rd grade readers, readers in grades 4-6, and striving readers in middle school. It’s part of series that might “hook” some readers.Some strong THEMES that might be worthy of students writing responses to as they read this book –• Change takes time.• Failure can be an informative experience.• Tenacity is a characteristic of innovators.• The work of a team can lead to big innovations.• Think partners are a critical part of inventing.Two down points (but not deal breakers) -1) The authors' acknowledgments do very little to reveal accuracy and authority in the book; there's one brief note about an assistant who did "fact checking." There is a bibliography included but no apparent primary sources are on the list; several of the books written are written by award-winning nonfiction authors but... Student-readers deserve a note from the authors about their research methods, what's fact and what's imagination (based on inferences made from factual information) in the book, and how the authors checked for accuracy.2) The chapter 1-2 review of aviation history is Eurocentric. Wonder if there are other stories the authors could have chosen to expand young readers’ understanding of the history of curiosity about human flight at a global level. I did a quick search on the web that did not turn up much but I didn’t do the search justice.Again - not a deal breaker, but points we might help student-readers notice, ask questions about, engage in further research regarding... I'd still recommend this for independent reading.

This awesome ‘history’ book is perfectly explained and illustrated for younger audiences as well as we adults ...My son-in-law is an elementary school teacher and is thrilled with them.One of my good friends is an elementary librarian and the book(s) have been highly recommended by the school board.I highly recommend this book as it has also now been added to the Smithsonian library of good reads .

Recommended summer reading book for school. My 9yo son loved it. He read it out loud to me and I’m glad he did because there are a lot of great, and new vocabulary words to learn in this book. I highly recommend!

Both books are very well written and easy to read! Packed with great information and loved the illustrations! Every classroom should implement the Epic Fails book series into their curriculum.

I really enjoy the humor and writing style. The history of flight is interesting enough but the illustrations, interesting takes and soft humor make it very palatable for the YA Audience.

Great title and great writing. If I had young teenagers again this series of books would be the best for them. Takes failure to succeed and this book does just that.

Everyone should be reading this.

I have a 14 year old and 10 year old boys. They both enjoy reading, but mostly fiction. It’s sometimes a struggle to find a non fiction book that will interest them. The authors of this series really know how to make learning history FUN! Both my boys love these books. And even though they are “marketed” towards middle grade children, I read the entire series as well and as a 40 year old adult I loved them just as much as my boys do!This first book in the series focuses on man’s ambition to fly. Today we take flying for granted. This book helps readers understand just how amazing this technological achievement really was. I especially like the series focus on the mistakes and setbacks that happen in the quest of making a dream a reality. It gives kids a positive message that even if they fail at something, if they have determination and persistence, they may just change the world!At the writing of this review there is only 4 books in this series so far. I really hope that the authors will write many more books for this series so learning history can continue being fun!