Popular Hot Air Balloons Books

15+ [Hand Picked] Popular Books On Hot Air Balloons

5/5

The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pène du Bois

Professor William Waterman Sherman intends to fly across the Pacific Ocean. But through a twist of fate, he lands on the secret island of Krakatoa where he discovers a world of unimaginable wealth, eccentric inhabitants, and incredible balloon inventions. Winner of the 1948 Newbery Medal, this classic fantasy-adventure is a joy for all ages.

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3.9/5

Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride by Marjorie Priceman

The first "manned" hot-air balloon is about to take off! But what are those noises coming from the basket? Based on the (POSSIBLY) true report of a day in 1783, this is the story of (PERHAPS) the bravest collection of flyers the world has ever seen, as (SORT OF) told to Marjorie Priceman.

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3.8/5

Hot-Air Henry by Mary Calhoun , Erick Ingraham (Illustrations)

When that sassy Siamese Henry stows away in a hot-air balloon and goes aloft alone, it is a fur-raising flight indeed. Followers of Henry's cross-country skiing adventure will be equally charmed by his masterey of the wild blue yonder.

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4.3/5

A Voyage in the Clouds: The (Mostly) True Story of the First International Flight by Balloon in 1785 by Matthew Olshan , Sophie Blackall (Illustrations)

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 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 is a journey that will keep kids laughing the whole way. A Margaret Ferguson Book

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4.8/5

Sebastian and the Balloon by Philip C. Stead

On a boring day, on a dull street, Sebastian sat high atop his roof--something he was never supposed to do. When he launched himself into the air in his balloon made of Grandma's afghans and patchwork quilts, his journey took on a life of its own and his boring day turned into the adventure of a lifetime. From award-winning author/illustrator Philip C. Stead, comes another On a boring day, on a dull street, Sebastian sat high atop his roof--something he was never supposed to do. When he launched himself into the air in his balloon made of Grandma's afghans and patchwork quilts, his journey took on a life of its own and his boring day turned into the adventure of a lifetime. From award-winning author/illustrator Philip C. Stead, comes another timeless adventure with his trademark whimsical illustrations and an unwavering spirit.A Neal Porter Book

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4.8/5

The Colonel and the Bee by Patrick Canning

The Amazing Beatrix works as an acrobat in a 19th Century circus, no home or family to speak of. When a daring escape from her abusive ringleader crosses Beatrix's path with that of the daring adventurer Colonel James Bacchus, the unlikely pair team up, fly to safety aboard the Colonel’s miraculous four-story hot air balloon, and begin a grand quest to find the most precio The Amazing Beatrix works as an acrobat in a 19th Century circus, no home or family to speak of. When a daring escape from her abusive ringleader crosses Beatrix's path with that of the daring adventurer Colonel James Bacchus, the unlikely pair team up, fly to safety aboard the Colonel’s miraculous four-story hot air balloon, and begin a grand quest to find the most precious gem in the world, The Blue Star Sphinx. If the heroes can outmaneuver the deadly treasure hunters, escaped convicts, and double-crosses that await them, they may win the treasure they seek, or better yet, a sense of true belonging. Witty banter, colorful characters, and exotic locations pack the fantastical, globe-trotting adventure that reads like Sherlock Holmes meets Around the World in Eighty Days.

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4.9/5

To Capture What We Cannot Keep by Beatrice Colin

Set against the construction of the Eiffel Tower, this novel charts the relationship between a young Scottish widow and a French engineer who, despite constraints of class and wealth, fall in love. In February 1887, Caitriona Wallace and Émile Nouguier meet in a hot air balloon, floating high above Paris, France - a moment of pure possibility. But back on firm ground, their Set against the construction of the Eiffel Tower, this novel charts the relationship between a young Scottish widow and a French engineer who, despite constraints of class and wealth, fall in love. In February 1887, Caitriona Wallace and Émile Nouguier meet in a hot air balloon, floating high above Paris, France - a moment of pure possibility. But back on firm ground, their vastly different social strata become clear. Cait is a widow who because of her precarious financial situation is forced to chaperone two wealthy Scottish charges. Émile is expected to take on the bourgeois stability of his family's business and choose a suitable wife. As the Eiffel Tower rises, a marvel of steel and air and light, the subject of extreme controversy and a symbol of the future, Cait and Émile must decide what their love is worth. Seamlessly weaving historical detail and vivid invention, Beatrice Colin evokes the revolutionary time in which Cait and Émile live - one of corsets and secret trysts, duels and Bohemian independence, strict tradition and Impressionist experimentation. To Capture What We Cannot Keep, stylish, provocative, and shimmering, raises probing questions about a woman's place in that world, the overarching reach of class distinctions, and the sacrifices love requires of us all.

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4.7/5

The Balloonist by MacDonald Harris

As in the best of Jules Verne or Albert Sanchez Pinol, The Balloonist is a gripping and surreal yarn, chilling and comic by turn, that brilliantly reinvents the Arctic adventure. It is July 1897, at the northernmost reach of the inhabited world. A Swedish scientist, an American journalist, and a young, French-speaking adventurer climb into a wicker gondola suspended beneath As in the best of Jules Verne or Albert Sanchez Pinol, The Balloonist is a gripping and surreal yarn, chilling and comic by turn, that brilliantly reinvents the Arctic adventure. It is July 1897, at the northernmost reach of the inhabited world. A Swedish scientist, an American journalist, and a young, French-speaking adventurer climb into a wicker gondola suspended beneath a huge, red-and-white balloon. The ropes are cut, the balloon rises, and the three begin their voyage: an attempt to become the first people to set foot on the North Pole, and return, borne on the wind. Philip Pullman says in his foreword: "Once I open any of MacDonald Harris’s novels I find it almost impossible not to turn and read on, so delightful is the sensation of a sharp intelligence at work. In The Balloonist , we see all of his qualities at their best."

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4.9/5

How the Queen Found the Perfect Cup of Tea by Kate Hosford (Illustrations) , Gabi Swiatkowska (Illustrations)

Each day when the Queen wakes up, three maids dress her, two more style her hair, and her butler James makes her tea. But when she grows dissatisfied with her brew, the Queen and James set out in search of the perfect cup. With each stop on their hot-air balloon journey, the Queen encounters new friends who expand her horizonsin the kitchen and beyond.

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4.4/5

Little Polar Bear and the Big Balloon by Hans de Beer , Rosemary Lanning (Translation)

Lars, the Little Polar Bear, spends his days watching the seagulls circling overhead and dreams of flying in the sky like a bird. One day, he meets a lost puffin who cannot fly home because his wings are sticky with oil. Always ready to help a friend in need, Lars takes the little puffin to the healing waters of the hot spring, where they discover a huge hot-air balloon. A Lars, the Little Polar Bear, spends his days watching the seagulls circling overhead and dreams of flying in the sky like a bird. One day, he meets a lost puffin who cannot fly home because his wings are sticky with oil. Always ready to help a friend in need, Lars takes the little puffin to the healing waters of the hot spring, where they discover a huge hot-air balloon. At last, it seems that Lars's dream of exploring the sky will come true! But flying high above the ground is scary...

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4.4/5

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman , John Lawrence (Illustrator)

In this prequel episode from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials universe, Lee Scoresby -- Texan aeronaut and future friend to Lyra Belacqua -- is 24 years old. The story reveals the origins of Scoresby's friendship with Iorek Byrnison as well as Scoresby's aeronautical career. After winning his hot-air balloon in a poker game, Scoresby finds himself floating north. On the In this prequel episode from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials universe, Lee Scoresby -- Texan aeronaut and future friend to Lyra Belacqua -- is 24 years old. The story reveals the origins of Scoresby's friendship with Iorek Byrnison as well as Scoresby's aeronautical career. After winning his hot-air balloon in a poker game, Scoresby finds himself floating north. On the Arctic island of Novy Odense, Scoresby and his dæmon Hester become involved in a deadly plot involving an oil magnate, a corrupt mayoral candidate, and a hired killer who is Lee's longtime nemesis from the Dakota Country. Forming an alliance with one of the island's reviled armored bears, Scoresby fights to break up the conspiracy. This clothbound volume features the illustrations of John Lawrence, a removable board game on the inside back cover, and the story that offers a glimpse into the origins of the friendship of two beloved characters in the His Dark Materials trilogy.

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4.7/5

Miranda the Explorer: A Magical Round-the-World Adventure by James Mayhew

Miranda wins a balloon ride—but the rope snaps and away she goes, over seas, mountains, and deserts. She touches down at the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids, flies over the Great Wall of China, visits Japan, almost falls into a river full of crocodiles in Australia, makes some new friends at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, is buffeted by storms over the Channel, and much more. Miran Miranda wins a balloon ride—but the rope snaps and away she goes, over seas, mountains, and deserts. She touches down at the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids, flies over the Great Wall of China, visits Japan, almost falls into a river full of crocodiles in Australia, makes some new friends at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, is buffeted by storms over the Channel, and much more. Miranda is a brave and resourceful character whose adventures are shown in delightful pictures of the places she visits. With map backgrounds and place names, this is a big story with lots of action, told with warmth and humor.

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4/5

And Away We Go! by Migy

Mr. Fox is going to the moon! Away he goes in his hot air balloon. . . . But wait! Can Elephant come too? Sure! Let's bring along some pizza. What about Giraffe? And Squirrel? Everyone is welcome in Mr. Fox's balloon, but look out—will everyone fit? In the tradition of classic cumulative tales like Mr. Gumpy's Outing, Migy's And Away We Go! is an unforgettable debut pictur Mr. Fox is going to the moon! Away he goes in his hot air balloon. . . . But wait! Can Elephant come too? Sure! Let's bring along some pizza. What about Giraffe? And Squirrel? Everyone is welcome in Mr. Fox's balloon, but look out—will everyone fit? In the tradition of classic cumulative tales like Mr. Gumpy's Outing, Migy's And Away We Go! is an unforgettable debut picture book from an exciting new talent.

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5/5

Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

Joe planned a postcard-perfect afternoon in the English countryside to celebrate his lover's return after 6 weeks in the States. The perfect day turns to nightmare however, when they are involved in freak ballooning accident in which a boy is saved but a man is killed. In itself, the accident would change the couple and the survivors' lives, filling them with an uneasy com Joe planned a postcard-perfect afternoon in the English countryside to celebrate his lover's return after 6 weeks in the States. The perfect day turns to nightmare however, when they are involved in freak ballooning accident in which a boy is saved but a man is killed. In itself, the accident would change the couple and the survivors' lives, filling them with an uneasy combination of shame, happiness, and endless self-reproach. But fate has far more unpleasant things in store for Joe. Meeting the eye of fellow rescuer Jed Parry, for example, turns out to be a very bad move. For Jed is instantly obsessed, making the first of many calls to Joe and Clarissa's London flat that same night. Soon he's openly shadowing Joe and writing him endless letters. (One insane epistle begins, "I feel happiness running through me like an electrical current. I close my eyes and see you as you were last night in the rain, across the road from me, with the unspoken love between us as strong as steel cable.") Worst of all, Jed's version of love comes to seem a distortion of Joe's feelings for Clarissa. Apart from the incessant stalking, it is the conditionals--the contingencies--that most frustrate Joe, a scientific journalist. If only he and Clarissa had gone straight home from the airport... If only the wind hadn't picked up... If only he had saved Jed's 29 messages in a single day... Ian McEwan has long been a poet of the arbitrary nightmare, his characters ineluctably swept up in others' fantasies, skidding into deepening violence, and--worst of all--becoming strangers to those who love them. Even his prose itself is a masterful and methodical exercise in de-familiarisation. But Enduring Love and its underrated predecessor, Black Dogs, are also meditations on knowledge and perception as well as brilliant manipulations of our own expectations. By the novel's end, you will be surprisingly unafraid of hot-air balloons, but you won't be too keen on looking a stranger in the eye. --Alex Freeman

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4.1/5

Felicity & Cordelia: A Tale of Two Bunnies by Lisa Jahn-Clough

Felicity likes adventures. Cordelia likes to stay home. While Felicity sets off on her hot air balloon, Cordelia picks berries and bakes pies. Through letters, paintings, and dreams, the two are never far apart. When Felicity runs into trouble on her trip, she knows that it's time to come back home. This charming story of two unlikely friends shows that differences can be a Felicity likes adventures. Cordelia likes to stay home. While Felicity sets off on her hot air balloon, Cordelia picks berries and bakes pies. Through letters, paintings, and dreams, the two are never far apart. When Felicity runs into trouble on her trip, she knows that it's time to come back home. This charming story of two unlikely friends shows that differences can be a good thing.

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