The Glorious Flight
by Alice and Martin Provensen
“The Glorious Flight - Across The Channel With Louis Blériot” by Alice and Martin Provensen. Published by Puffin. A book describing the exciting historic event of a daring flight across the English Channel by Louis Blériot in 1909.
The book begins with the Blériot family sitting at the table for breakfast. The year is 1901 and the place is the city of Cambrai in France. It is a beautiful sunny day and the family set out for a ride in their new car. As they go down the street, they hear a strange sound in the sky. Trying to figure out the source of the sound, Papa Blériot goes straight into a wagon full of vegetables. A crowd gathers and angry faces can be seen. When the ruckus is going on, a man sitting in a basket of a great white airship is driving it through the air. This now was the cause of the accident. Everyone forgets all the events and start watching the first airship seen over their city.
Louis Blériot has only one wish now. He wants to build a flying machine that can fly through the air like swallows. Nothing can stop him now from pursuing this dream. The book takes us through his journey of trials, misses and the final challenge that he has to take up himself to fulfil his wish. How this Frenchman’s vision helped in taking a giant leap in aviation is so inspiring. Today we take air travel for granted and it has shrunk the world considerably making it so well connected. A century ago this would have seemed such a far fetched idea. Thanks to the unending efforts and determination of people like Blériot, a giant step was taken and the world of aviation got wider.
My seven year old enjoyed the book. When I tried reading it with him three years ago, he didn’t quite understand it. But he found it very interesting now and appreciated the efforts that Blériot took to take up the challenge to fly an airship. The illustrations by the Provensen couple are stunning and the book won the Caldecott Medal. Overall a must read! The book is apt for children aged 6+.