A Dream of Flight: Alberto Santos-Dumont's Race Around the Eiffel Tower

by Jef Polivka, Rob Polivka, Rob Polivka (Illustrator)

Overview

Debut nonfiction duo Rob and Jef Polivka offer an illustrated madcap adventure in A Dream of Flight, a dynamic biography of Alberto Santos-Dumont, an inventor who risked everything to reach the skies. And sure enough, his successes and failures brought the world’s people closer together.

Ready? Set. Fly!

At the turn of the twentieth century, no aviation prize was more coveted in Europe than the Deutsch Prize. To win it, a pilot would have to fly a balloon from Paris’s Aero Club around the Eiffel Tower and back in thirty minutes or less. Who would be the first to succeed?

Alberto Santos-Dumont thought he could. His latest design, Airship No. 6, was perfected from the countless lessons he learned during previous crashes. On the morning of October 19, 1901, Santos was making good time in the race when disaster struck—his motor had sputtered to a stop mid-air! Would Santos make it to the finish line in time—let alone survive?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466899506
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	07/30/2019
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	727,952
File size:	45 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Rob Polivka is an illustrator and cartoonist who lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife and their three children. A Dream of Flight is his second picture book.

Jef Polivka-Searle collaborates with his brother, Rob, from his home in Allen, Texas, where he lives with his wife and young son. A Dream of Flight is his first picture book.

Jef Polivka collaborates with his brother, Rob, from his home in Allen, Texas, where he lives with his wife and young son. A Dream of Flight is his first picture book.
Rob Polivka is an illustrator and cartoonist who lives in Plano, Texas, with his wife and their three children. He is the illustrator of Good Bless America: The Story of an Immigrant Named Irving Berlin and co-author/illustrator of A Dream of Flight.

Editorial Reviews

08/26/2019

The brothers Polivka join forces on this iterative picture book biography of aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont, who grows up fascinated by machinery on his family’s Brazilian coffee plantation. After heading to France to study science and becoming inspired by a hot air balloon ride over the City of Light, Santos painstakingly designs a series of motorized airships. He perseveres through multiple failures and in 1901 wins the coveted Deutsch Prize—100,000 francs—for piloting across town, around the Eiffel Tower, and back in 30 minutes, demonstrating sustained controlled flight. Rob Polivka’s lively illustration style, reminiscent of Hergé’s, offers an animated sense of adventure; one spread, sure to interest the engineering minded, features the first five attempted airships. Back matter includes a timeline that contextualizes the subject’s accomplishments alongside other turn-of-the-century aviation milestones. Ages 4–8. (July)

Publishers Weekly

*A 2020 NSTA Best Stem Book!*

"An engaging book about a larger-than-life character." —Kirkus Reviews

"Rob Polivka's lively illustration style, reminiscent of Hergé’s, offers an animated sense of adventure sure to interest the engineering minded." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2019-05-08
An account of how Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont won the prestigious Deutsch Prize at the turn of the 20th century.

Alberto Santos-Dumont grew up in Brazil, the son of a coffee-plantation owner. As a boy, he "dreamed that one day, he would fly," and added to this dream was a fascination with machinery. As a young man and going by Santos, he left for France to study science. There, inspired by his first hot air balloon flight, Santos dedicated his life to designing an airship that would be propelled by its own power. Author/illustrator Rob Polivka—whose style is somewhat reminiscent of Belgian cartoonist Hergé's—provides sketches of the various prototypes as well as scenes of the different flight attempts—illustrating them with a touch of humor—and of Santos' much admired and written-about life in Paris. When the 100,000-franc Deutsch Prize was announced, challenging members of Paris' Aero Club to fly from the club to the Eiffel Tower and back (a distance of a little over 7 miles) in 30 minutes, Santos was ready for the challenge. On Oct. 19, 1901, Santos won and so "played his part in the world's dream of flight." Although well-known in Brazil and in France, Santos is largely unfamiliar to American audiences, particularly children, making this a good complement to other picture books. Santos is depicted with black hair and olive skin; Paris crowd scenes include a few people of color.

An engaging book about a larger-than-life character. (author's note, bibliography, fun facts, and a timeline of aeronautics invention) (Picture book/biography. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews