THE WRIGHT BROTHERS

This author/illustrator duo turns its whimsy to the Wright brothers as they remodel the device of “The House That Jack Built” to explain the steps that led to the historic first flight. The cumulative story becomes tedious (“This is the bicycle shop opened by Wilbur and Orville years after making a printing press designed by the brothers, whose interest in flying was sparked by a toy . . .”), but is offset by comments and asides from a band of four talking mice who observe the various stages and cleverly add humor, bits of information, and interest. Perspectives in the colorful illustrations convey airiness and contrast effectively with the small mice on the ground. Endpapers display a ribboned flight timeline animated with the miming mice. Among the plethora of books on the subject this year, most of them straightforward, none has taken a humorous approach, which makes this more accessible to young readers. (Picture book/biography. 5-9)