Hot Air: The [Mostly] True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride

This is a fun book that brings together wonderful, historically themed illustrations, true historical fact, and imaginative storytelling to narrate the invention and first flight of the hot air ballon. The author explains in the end that the setting, inventors, and time-period are true- to-fact but that the details of the flight are embellished. That is because the flight is taken by a duck, sheep, and a rooster who encounter numerous mishaps along their famed trip. The last pages of the book contain "a brief history of montgolfier's balloons" with main events during the invention listed in chronological order with short explanations.

This is book is like one I have never read, in a good way. It’s historical, informational, international, and most of all, half the book has words and have the book is a wordless picture book. I think that is the main reason I like this book; in the beginning it gives details about where it’s taking place, (the palace of Versailles) in France, the people at the event, and lastly, it tells the story of a duck, a sheep, and a rooster. The story of the animals is all in wordless picture book style, to allow students let their imagination run wild, and to be taken on an adventure. Another reason I like this book is it is historical in a way: It was set in 1783, allowing kids to think about what happened during that time period, and show more describes the palace of Versailles, like that it has 700 rooms and 67 staircases. It also mentioned that Louis XVI and Antoinette were King and Queen at the time. I also think that this book is very informational, based on the examples I just gave as well as others, like talking about Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier (amateur inventors). Lastly, this book is international, since it was based in France, and gives pictures and descriptions that represents a country that is definitely NOT America. This is a great, creative, extremely different picture book for kids. show less

This was a really fun read that has historical elements to it but adds fantasy to spice up the story. It is about the true report of the first "manned hot-air ballon take off in 1783, only there are weird noises coming from the basket! A duck, sheep, and rooster have quite the adventure in the basket as they take off. I really enjoyed how the book was laid out. It started out giving facts and information, but once it revealed that the passengers were animals, it used pictures and onomatopoeias to show what was happening to the animals. The pictures are amazing, and the author/illustrator was nominated for a Caldecott. My only critique is that it almost went a little too long with only pictures and no words.
Genre:Historical Fiction-the show more author used true events and expanded them.
Uses: 1.Great example of onomatopoeia. 2. A great book that describes the first Hot air ballon, so if you had a lesson or were learning about hot air ballons, this is your book!
Material: I would best guess that this book was illustrated using water color and ink. show less

This is an enjoyable and slightly informative book about the rumor that the first ever hot air balloon ride was taken by three barnyard animals. This book describes some sticky situations the animals find themselves in while in the air. The illustrations have a lot of detail and are very colorful. Text is repetitive which is enjoyable to young readers. Could be used to then introduce the true history of hot air balloons or the science behind how they work.

Hot Air by Marjorie Priceman greatly exhibits the meaning of a picture book. It does more than solely reinforce the meaning of the text, but it adds life and character to the story. The book begins with pictures accompanied by words, but gradually transforms to pictures only. The first few pages’ illustrations are simply drawn yet contain much detail. The pictures seem to speak more than the words. It tells mini-stories about the people in the illustration which has nothing to do with the main theme of the book. This is a great example of adding context through pictures.

The book opens with a brief history of the first hot air balloon, but the majority of the story is told from the perspective of the first 3 passengers- a duck, sheep and rooster. There is almost no text after the first couple pages about the history, allowing the reader to interpret what the animals may be thinking as they ride the hot air balloon. The images are really wonderful, and tell a story without words. This lack of text allows young readers to narrate the story to how they feel fit, allowing for imagination to take over. A lot of the pages are broken up into multiple images, which is interesting and unique. I felt the book ended abruptly with a slight disconnect, and an overwhelming of words to end the story. The back cover show more has a brief history of hot air balloons which is interesting, but at a slightly higher reading level than the reader who would be reading this book. I do appreciate the historical context because it will teach the reader a bit about the first hot air balloons.

Classroom Extension: Have the students write the narration from one of the animals perspectives based on the pictures. show less

This book is a wonderful story with the perfect mix of history and fiction. I had no idea that the first passengers on a hot air balloon were farm animals! I actually didn't know much about the maiden flight at all. While providing true facts at the beginning and end of the book, the story is not bogged down by information, because the main content is a fictional depiction of what the animals were possibly doing on the flight. The animals are shown doing silly things, facing obstacles, and helping one another from falling out of the balloon. There is little text other than sound effects and animal noises during the flight. Overall, this is a great story.