The Wright Brothers for kids: a true picture book
Wilbur and Orville Build a Way to Fly. Things that did not exist, until someone made them. 10 pages, fact-checked, at three reading levels, read aloud.
The lesson: Test it yourself, write down what happens, fix it, try again.
Read the first pages free
Clink! Clank! Two brothers, Wilbur and Orville, fix bikes in their shop. Spin, wheel, spin!
Wilbur and Orville Wright had a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. They fixed bikes. They sold bikes. Later, they built their very own bikes, wheel by wheel and chain by chain.
In 1892, Wilbur and Orville Wright opened a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio. They repaired bicycles, sold them, and later built their own. A mechanic is a person who fixes and builds machines, and that is the kind of work the brothers did every day. They handled chains, wheels, spokes and gears with their own hands, one careful part at a time.
Page 1 of 10
Scritch, scratch! Wilbur writes a letter. Please send me everything about flying!
In 1899, Wilbur wrote a letter. He sent it to the Smithsonian Institution. He asked for everything it had printed about flight. Then he waited for the mail.
In 1899, Wilbur wrote to the Smithsonian Institution. He asked for everything it had published about flight. To publish means to print something and share it so other people can read it. Before the brothers ever went out to test a flying machine, they started by gathering what others had already written down.
Page 2 of 10
The Wright Brothers: a timeline of true facts
- 1892 The brothers opened a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, where they repaired, sold and later built bicycles. source
- 1899 Wilbur wrote to the Smithsonian Institution asking for everything it had published about flight. source
- 1900 They tested gliders at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, because it had strong, steady winds and soft sand for landing. source
- 1901 Their 1901 glider lifted much less than the published tables predicted, so they built their own wind tunnel and tested about 200 wing shapes. source
- 1902 Using their wind tunnel results, they built a new glider in 1902 that flew well. They made hundreds of glides with it and learned to steer. source
- 1903 They could not buy a light enough engine, so their mechanic Charlie Taylor built one in about six weeks. source
- 1903 On December 17, 1903, Orville flew the Wright Flyer for 12 seconds and 120 feet. It was the first powered, controlled, sustained flight of an airplane with a pilot. source
- 1903 That same day they flew three more times. Wilbur's last flight went 852 feet in 59 seconds. source
3 reading levels
- Read to me (ages 3–5)
- Read together (ages 6–8)
- I'll read (ages 9–12)
The same true story, written three ways. Little kids hear short, bouncy lines; big kids get the details and the numbers.
Quiz time
What kind of shop did Wilbur and Orville have?
Show the answer
A bicycle shop.
Try this at home
- Paper airplane test lab: fold one paper airplane and throw it 3 times. Write down or draw how far it goes each time. Change one thing, like bending the wing tips, then throw 3 more times and compare.
- Mini wind tunnel: set up a fan on low and hold strips of paper with different shapes (flat, curved, folded) in front of it. Watch which ones lift up the most, and write down what you see.
- Glider landing pad: make a simple paper glider and fly it over a soft landing spot like a pillow or a blanket. Try small changes to make it fly straighter, and keep a list of every fix you try.
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