This book is about a man named Mr. Louis Ble’riot, the story is set in France and he has the dream to one day build his very own plane and to fly it. After several failed attempts and some minor injuries, he finally sets out to fly across the English Channel and on July 25, 1909 his dream comes true and with the crowds cheering him on he reaches England in just thirty-seven minutes.

I enjoyed reading this book, I especially enjoyed the nice ending, it was a bit touching as well, and it made me feel like I was there with the cheering crowd rooting for him. I did however; find that as the story stared and on in toward the middle it was a bit hard to follow in a way, the structure was a bit choppy, nonetheless it was a nice read. A nice historical fiction book that would be good for the older primary grade levels due to the choppiness of the story. The illustrations on the other hand were absolutely wonderful. They were brilliantly drawn, emotionally, realistically, and flowed perfect with the story.

My class would write in their journal of a dream that they too would one day want to pursue and accomplish like Mr. Ble’riot had done in the story. I would also like to hear from the students what they thought happened once the family reunited with their father at home, for example have the students come up with an extended ending to the story once Mr. Ble’riot arrived home, did the town throw him a victory party?, how did each family member respond to their father’s victory? Another fun class project would be to have each student construct his or her own airplane using the craft supplies, decorating them, and naming the aircraft like Mr. Ble’riot had named each of his planes using his last name and a number, the students could relate by naming their planes too.

This is a biography of Louis Bleriot who built and airplane and flew it across the English Channel in 37 minutes.
Awards and Honors:
Caldecott Medal (1984)
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (1984) ( )

Documents the story of Louis Bleriot and his quest for flight concluding in his flight across the English Channel. ( )

Use this book to teach avaiation. Also a Caldecott winner.

Oh I love when they provide those extra details that children with their sensative hypocrasy metres always pick-out. Everyone is in the care but the cat and the cockatoo. I love the creations being additions of roman numerals. Wow 37 minutes. I just want to know how is family managed to make it to England in the last page!