The Amazing Air Balloon Author:Jean Van Leeuwen Long before the Wright brothers made their famous flight, a young boy from Baltimore became the first person ever to travel by air-in a hot-air balloon. One of the most exciting ways to fly, the air balloon was invented in 1783, although it would take another ten years before a balloon was built that was ready to carry human passengers. Aviation... more » aficionados and indeed all readers will be fascinated by this time before airplanes when an ordinary boy experienced what seemed like an impossible dream-to fly.
Jean Van Leeuwen turns this remarkable story into a captivating read and also includes a detailed historical note, while Marco Ventura's lovely oil paintings perfectly evoke eighteenth-century Colonial America.« less