Into the Air: An Illustrated Timeline of Flight
Gr. 2-4. Hunter begins this highly illustrated history of flight not with hot-air balloons but with insects such as giant dragonflies that lived more than 300 million years ago. Following the natural history of flying through reptiles, birds, and mammals, people enter the story with kites, homemade wings, balloons, gliders, dirigibles, and airplanes. The second half of the book illustrates the push to take planes "higher, faster, and farther," tracing a century of flight before looking into the future. Nascimbene's beautiful paintings stretch across double-page spreads, with a few small, captioned illustrations superimposed in cartoon-style boxes. The subtlety of color and the expressiveness in figure drawing lift the artwork above the norm for illustrated nonfiction. Lists of sources, recommended books, and Internet sites are appended.Carolyn PhelanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved