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 Étienne, he began to experiment... and created the world's first flying machine, sparking the birth of flight. This beautifully illustrated picture book tells the story of how the 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.

From the dust jacket