ABSTRACT
Scarcely had the Wright brothers demonstrated the possibility of powered flight when the first juvenile series aviation books appeared. These books informed youthful American readers of the workings and potential of flying machines. Although the Wright brothers first flew in 1903, they did not really come to the full attention of the American public until 1908, when they first demonstrated their flying machine to European audiences with great success. The Wright brothers visited Europe again the following year, in the summer of 1909, and, when they returned to America later that year, they had become undisputed celebrities. The first series books devoted exclusively to flying activities appeared in 1909, within weeks of the Wright brothers' return. That series, the Airship Boys Series, was written by H. L. Sayler, a Chicago newspaperman. By 1913 over eleven different aviation series had appeared, totalling over fifty titles, including one series devoted to girl readers. By the time America entered World War I, many youthful American readers were fully conversant with the processes and achievements of flight.
