In 1968, the biggest passenger jet the world had ever seen premiered in Everett, Washington. The giant plane was called the Boeing 747, but reporters named it “the Jumbo jet.”
There was only one problem. It couldn’t fly. Yet.
Jumbo details the story of the world’s first wide-body passenger jet, which could hold more people than any other jet at the time. The Boeing 747 introduced new technologies to the aviation industry and played a pivotal role in middle class families affording travel overseas.
With an innovative design, the Jumbo jet took its first flight on January 22, 1970, taking passengers from New York to Paris in seven hours.
About the Author
Chris Gall earned a degree in fine arts from the University of Arizona and is the author and illustrator of a dozen acclaimed books, including Dinotrux, a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year, The Littlest Train, and Dog Vs. Cat. He is also the author of Go For the Moon, a nonfiction account of the Apollo moon landing. Chris lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Industry Reviews
In a properly lap and eyefilling format (it has a 2foot wingspan), a soaring tribute to the 'Queen of the Skies.' [...] A blast from the past, sure to transport fans of all things big and loud.
Kirkus, starred review
Praise for Go for the Moon: A Rocket, A Boy, and the First Moon Landing
Gall uses approachable analogies to illuminate STEAM concepts, and an author's note recalls Gall's experience watching the moon landing as a child, further personalizing this edifying and heartfelt story.
Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
Gall balances densely explanatory pages with wideangle scenes filled with tension and drama.
The New York Times
The final doublepage spread is a stunning, vertiginous view of the boy's next generation of homemade rockets lifting off. A solid addition to the growing collection of fine volumes about Apollo 11.
Kirkus
[Gall's] enthusiasm for rocketry shines brightly in loving attention to hardware detail in the art, with human participants rendered as merely necessary adjuncts.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Recommended for science classes and school and public library collections.
School Library Journal
The large trim size places the focus on the richly colored illustrations, which chart and diagram each phase of the journey and return.
Booklist