A Voyage in the Clouds: The (Mostly) True Story of the First International Flight by Balloon in 1785

by Matthew Olshan, Sophie Blackall (Illustrator)

Overview

In the year and a half since the flight of the first manned balloon in 1783, an Italian has flown, a Scot has flown, a woman has flown, even a sheep has flown. But no one has flown from one country to another. John Jeffries, an Englishman, and his pilot, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a Frenchman, want to be the first. On January 7, 1785, they set out to cross the English Channel to France in a balloon. All seemed to be going fine, until Jeffries decides the balloon looks too fat and adjusts the air valve—how hard could it be? Too bad he drops the wrench over the side of the aerial car. With no way to adjust the valve, the balloon begins to sink. Jeffries and Blanchard throw as much as they can overboard—until there is nothing left, not even their clothes. Luckily, they come up with a clever (and surprising) solution that saves the day. A VOYAGE IN THE CLOUDS from Matthew Olshan and Sophie Blackall is a journey that will keep kids laughing the whole way.
A Margaret Ferguson Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466896505
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	10/11/2016
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	154 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Matthew Olshan is author of the critically acclaimed picture book The Mighty Lalouche, also illustrated by Sophie Blackall, as well as the adult novel Marshlands. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Sophie Blackall is the author and/or illustrator of many acclaimed picture books, including The Baby Tree, and the adult book Missed Connections. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/15/2016
The team behind the The Mighty Lalouche (2013) recounts the first international balloon journey, an expedition across the English Channel undertaken by a British doctor named Jeffries and a French balloonist named Blanchard in 1785. Tension arises even before the balloon leaves the ground as Jeffries discovers that Blanchard is plotting to exclude him from the trip. The two men cold-shoulder each other as the journey gets underway, but when the balloon starts to lose altitude, Blanchard’s heroism turns them into friends and allies. (They’re in their bloomers at the time, and Olshan keeps their rapprochement from getting too sentimental with a hilarious peeing scene.) The baroque ornamentation and carefully lettered speech balloons of Blackall’s spreads recall the work of George Cruikshank; like him, she has a gift for revealing that people dressed in petticoats and tricorne hats are just as human as the rest of us. With humor that’s never snarky, Olshun reminds readers that, sometimes, the challenge adventurers must overcome is not the elements; it’s their own vanity. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company. Illustrator’s agent: Nancy Gallt, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

The baroque ornamentation and carefully lettered speech balloons of Blackall’s spreads recall the work of George Cruikshank; like him, she has a gift for revealing that people dressed in petticoats and tricorne hats are just as human as the rest of us. With humor that’s never snarky, Olshan reminds readers that, sometimes, the challenge adventurers must overcome is not the elements; it’s their own vanity.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Blackall’s witty illustrations—which include full-page art and double-page spreads in color along with occasional black-and-white comic-panel strips; word balloons; and florid ornamentation—feel plucked from the time period. An author’s note directs readers to Dr. Jeffries’s firsthand account of the flight and reveals that portions of the book rely on Olshan and Blackall’s creative adaptation of factual events.” —The Horn Book, starred review

“The illustrations vary from traditional to graphic novel-style at points, using panels and dialogue balloons. Olshan establishes suspense as the two encounter problems and danger during their voyage, and children will want to keep reading and learning more about this historic trip. An author’s note discusses the true details incorporated in the story and explains the creative license taken....A delightful tale that will captivate elementary students with comedy, suspense, and beautiful illustrations.” —School Library Journal, starred review

“Here’s a story ripe for booktalking: a pair of bickering, cheating, dissembling adults set off from England in a hydrogen balloon and land in France in their underwear. Olshan tosses in some speculation to enliven a tale that really requires little additional embellishment, but those basic facts hold up. . .The muted colors and teardrop-shaped speech bubbles of the illustrations suggest eighteenth-century satirical cartoons, and they’re as droll as Olshan’s text, capturing the seriocomic perils that forced the squabbling frenemies to pull in harness together. No references are included, but an endnote on the facts and fictions herein is entertaining and useful, making this a delightful ‘sequel’ to Hot Air (BCCB 7/05), Marjorie Priceman’s ‘(Mostly) True’ picture-book chronicle of the Montgolfiers’ flight in 1783.” —The Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books, starred review

“Rarely has a story of a historic first been so silly. Olshan and Blackall together tell the somewhat fictionalized tale of American (then English) Dr. John Jeffries and French Jean-Pierre Blanchard’s first international journey by balloon. . .Blackall’s signature watercolor illustrations, in a vintage palette and full of old-fashioned details, amp up the levity with humorous comic strips showcasing the balloonists’ over-the-top arguments, and depictions of the dogs’ anguished reactions to their owners’ egos.” —Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2016
K-Gr 3—One remarkable milestone on the path to flight was the first manned balloon trip, which occurred in 1783. Up to that point, no one had accomplished a trip between countries, so Dr. John Jeffries (English) and Jean-Pierre Blanchard (French) decided to be the first. Jeffries and Blanchard allowed their competitive spirit to come between them until the trip had a few precarious moments; once they faced possible disaster, they quickly began working as a team to successfully cross the English Channel into France. The illustrations vary from traditional to graphic novel-style at points, using panels and dialogue balloons. Olshan establishes suspense as the two encounter problems and danger during their voyage, and children will want to keep reading and learning more about this historic trip. An author's note discusses the true details incorporated in the story and explains the creative license taken. VERDICT A delightful tale that will captivate elementary students with comedy, suspense, and beautiful illustrations.—April Sanders, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL

School Library Journal

2016-07-26
This embellished tale is loosely based on a true event: the first international balloon flight, from England to France, in 1785.Pierre Blanchard, a Frenchman with design and flight experience, makes the crossing with his English financial backer, Dr. John Jeffries. The two don’t get along well, and their invented squabbling drives much of the dialogue-heavy narrative. Their historical flight suffers a near miss during its two-hour, 47–minute crossing. For dramatic flair, Olshan invents Blanchard’s “little nap” and Jeffries’ bungled attempt to relieve pressure in the balloon. With the balloon losing elevation, the men shed sandbags, the winglike oars, rudder, anchor, violin, and most of their clothing. They even pee over the sides. (That’s apparently a documented fact). The near-sinking engenders a shift, with the two men cooperative and mutually congratulatory, as they disembark—in their underdrawers and clutching their respective pet dogs—to cheering crowds. Blackall’s signature watercolors, featuring pale, pink-cheeked, white figures, stylized period clothing, and pastel backgrounds, alternate with inked comics-styled panels conjuring such events as the precipitous near-sinking and the balloon’s tree-snagged landing. The men’s disagreeable carping, which preoccupies much of the story, ultimately diminishes its child appeal. Subtitle notwithstanding, crafted more to amuse than edify. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Review