1745-1799

Chronicles the life and musical accomplishments of Joseph Boulogne, an African man and the son of a slave who came to eighteenth-century France to study music, describing the hardships he faced and treatment by his peers, and discussing the realization of his dream to perform in front of the king and queen.

"Back in 1782, in Annonay, France, lived Joseph Montgolfier, a dreamer and an inventor who was curious about how everything worked. When one day a gust of wind blew his papers into the fireplace, he noticed that something lifted the pages into the air--and he realized that heat could make things rise. With the help of his brother Etienne, he began to experiment . . . and created the world's first flying machine, sparking the birth of flight. This . . . illustrated picture book tells the story of how his hot-air balloon came to be, King Louis XVI's visit to see it fly, and the three animals--a rooster, a duck, and a sheep--who became its very first passengers"--Provided by publisher.

Describes the historical invention and first flight of the hot-air balloon. Important people and local residents gather together on September 19, 1783 at the palace of Versailles in France where inventors Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier send their hot-air balloon to the skies with its first group of passengers--a duck, a sheep, and a rooster. Colorful illustrations depict the frightful and comical adventures the passengers may have encountered during the historical flight.

Victorious, a member of the unlucky Rattan family in rural France, becomes involved in a historic hot air balloon ascension and restores good repute to the Rattans.

Recounts the true story of the life of Joseph Bologne, an eighteenth-century French man born to a slave mother and a wealthy father who was taken to France, renamed the Chevalier de Saint-George and educated as a young aristocrat.

An illustrated introduction to the history of ballooning.

Mouton the sheep is fascinated by the thought of flying and she gets her wish, when she is sent up in the Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon in 1783.

Chronicles the life and musical accomplishments of Joseph Boulogne, an African man and the son of a slave who came to eighteenth-century France to study music, describing the hardships he faced and treatment by his peers, and discussing the realization of his dream to perform in front of the king and queen.

Relates the Revolutionary War adventures of Paul Revere and William Dawes, who alerted the Minutemen when British troops arrived in Boston, interspersed with verses of original song lyrics to be sung to the tune of "Over Hill, Over Dale.".

Presents a colorful children's story about the first passengers on the very first hot air balloon ride.