A dream of flight Alberto Santos-Dumont's race around the Eiffel Tower

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)

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 Polivkawhose style is somewhat reminiscent of Belgian cartoonist Herg'sprovides sketches of the various prototypes as well as scenes of the different flight attemptsillustrating them with a touch of humorand 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) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.