Right.

That's the key thing, is they're a continuation of each other.

While they're working on flying, they never fly on a plane together, even when they crash.

So, like, if the plane goes down, then they lose all their knowledge.

There's no disk drive to back it all up.

It's gone.

It's not until they start training people in France and in Germany, they train the US government and all the people that fly the planes and fly them, and then they finally decide one day, "We're gonna, to go home, we're gonna get on a plane together and fly home." And of course we think of the Wright Brothers, and that image, a beautiful cartoon most of your kids will look at with them both on that plane together, and I love that detail.

Mm.

Yeah, yeah.

The Wright brothers' parents come home, and they're like, "Fantastic.

Fanta-" And they nurture that love of curiosity.

They nurture that love of building and tinkering.

That's why the Wright brothers are the Wright brothers, and the reason why the Wright brothers can do what no one else can do is because they have that.

And what they see is, is everyone else is basing it on wingspan and how big it is, and that's what flight's gotta be.

The glider in Germany, they're trying to make it wider and taller.

Mm.

And how empowering is that? 'Cause it's also teaching you how to be innovative and creative.

Well, that's the thing.

You know, when you look at the Wright brothers when they're little, it always amazed me.

I'm like, "Where does that come from?" And as you know, every time we do these kids books, we show you them when they're kids.

So when Orville and Wilbur are 11 and seven years old, their dad comes home from work one day.

He says, "Boys, look," and he uncovers his hands.

And out of his hands shoots this thing into the, was flying in the air.

[laughs]

But I do not think this is only a children's book.

Oh, I agree with, listen, in our Dolly Parton book, you know, everyone kept asking me, how do we, you know, we did I Am Dolly Parton as a book.

Dolly Parton helped us with her book.

And we did it years ago before she passed.

And everyone said to me, well, how do we honor her? How do we honor her? And I told you, like, if you look at a Dolly Parton conscience, this is what it says at the back of her book.

It says, at every Dolly Parton concert, everybody's there.

Young people, old people, rich people, poor people, city folk, country folk, black, white, gay, straight, whatever you are, everyone in between.

And it says,

Yeah, yeah

...

the wind, so of course, they're going to Carolina.

But I love the fact that all of that is built in that house in Dayton, a place with no indoor plumbing.

They, you know, once a week they're taking a bath in a tub of hot water in the kitchen, and there's all these, you know, amazing people around the world who are trying to craft flight.

There's people with government contracts.

There's millionaires out there.

[laughs]

But from your experience, having written about living people and people from way back in history, which one is easier for you?

Well, the thing that's actually harder is— The Wright brothers are still relatively, I'm going to call them 20th century, but that's where it really is.

The harder part is George Washington.

The harder part is Abraham Lincoln, because there just were no records that we even have from that time.

We certainly have a billion books written about them, but George Washington, we have a couple of things in his diary.

He didn't write a lot of letters like John Adams did, so we don't really know what he was thinking.

And the more history goes forward, the more people are keeping diaries and people are writing biographies and autobiographies.

And to me, that makes it that much more incredible that they achieved what they achieved.

What made you choose the Wright brothers? This seems like a strange pick.

You know, we, for the full, you know, I, you and I started this book series on your show.

I, my first two books were Amelia Earhart and I Am Abraham Lincoln.

But for the 40th book ser- the 40th book in the series, we were like, "You know what? Let's rely a little bit more on democracy.

Let's see if democracy's still working today." [laughs] And so we let people vote, and it came down to Taylor Swift, LeBron James, and the Wright brothers.

And I thought for sure Taylor Swift or LeBron James was gonna win, it's just the way it's gonna be.

And to my surprise, it was the Wright brothers who won.

And I as, I subscribe to the Ken Burns theory which is show me everything about them, and to me that makes it that much more incredible that they achieved what they achieved.

I

mean, and let's let's talk about it.

Let's talk about just how.

So let's just go back just early.

So when they're seven and 11 years old, their kids, their dad comes home one day and takes his opens his hands as boys.

I got your present goes like this.

Let's go.

Have you seen this?

And it's like, I want that toy.

Yeah, I mean, let's talk about that a moment.

The Bright brothers are 11 years old and seven years old.

They're kids.

And their dad comes home with a present.

He says, boys, look what I got.

And out of his hand, he throws this thing in the air.

They would get up there and do it again.

Here's the good little thing that you can remember from that."

There's this quote that's been haunting me, and it says, "Be the reason people believe in good," and that's all this book series is.

It's me trying to not talk about history, but to show you and your kids how you can change history, how you can make history, and that to me is something that's worthwhile.

That's what we have to...

That's what our kids are owed today.

Our kids see so much fighting, so much anger.

They're in this...

Is that, is that how we get out of that?

Really?

And, and I think it's because, I don't know, I think, like, right now we're in this age of anger, this age of kind of division.

Everyone hates everybody else, so whatever side of politics you're on, you hate the other side.

Like, I'm done with that nonsense.

Like, I think we should be in the age of inspiration, give our kids some inspiration again.

And I love the fact that given the choice, America picked these two brothers from the middle of the country who just work with teamwork and connectedness and, and just never stopping.

And those ideals endure.

Uh.

Really?

And, and I think it's because, I don't know, I think, like, right now we're in this age of anger, this age of kind of division.

Everyone hates everybody else, so whatever side of politics you're on, you hate the other side.

Like, I'm done with that nonsense.

Like, I think we should be in the age of inspiration, give our kids some inspiration again.

And I love the fact that given the choice, America picked these two brothers from the middle of the country who just work with teamwork and connectedness and, and just never stopping.

And those ideals endure.

Huh.

Could you tell us the circumstances, and how much do you miss him?

Yeah, you know, I, of all things I've done in life, uh, I couldn't tell this story until about a year and a half ago when right before President Bush Senior passed away, they were bringing some of his favorite authors to read to him on his deathbed, and I got the call.

And my wife and I were in Kennebunkport, Maine.

They brought us in.

It was Secret Service said, "You're gonna read to him just for about five or 10 minutes." And, uh, I was honored to be there.

So they said, "He's gonna fall asleep a lot.

He's sleeping a lot these days." I said, "No problem." So I, on his desk is a stack of books, and one of mine is on the, is in that stack called The First Conspiracy, about a true-life secret plot to kill George Washington at the height of Revolutionary War.

Wow.

Why were Orville and Wilbur the right two people for number 40?

Well, it was fascinating because what we did is we right now live, as you know, age of anger.

We're in this age of division.

We all hate each other, right? And I just refuse to accept that, and I think we always need to bring kids back to an age of inspiration.

So for the 40th book, rather than picking it myself, we let America vote.

We said, "Pick who you want.

We're gonna do it.

They're beautiful

Right

... like, we worked with her on it years ago.

And, and everyone kept asking me, like, "How do we honor Dolly Parton?" And, and this is what I wrote at the end of I Am Dolly Parton, is I said, "If you go to a Dolly Parton concert, look around.

Everybody's there.

There's old people, young people, rich people, poor people, country folk, city folk, Black, white, gay, straight.

Whoever you are, she accepts you as long as you are authentically yourself." And so I always...

I really do think if you wanna honor Dolly Parton, it's not about downloading Nine to Five and listening to it, you know, streaming it.

Oh, that's great.

Right

... like, we worked with her on it years ago.

And, and everyone kept asking me, like, "How do we honor Dolly Parton?" And, and this is what I wrote at the end of I Am Dolly Parton, is I said, "If you go to a Dolly Parton concert, look around.

Everybody's there.

There's old people, young people, rich people, poor people, country folk, city folk, Black, white, gay, straight.

Whoever you are, she accepts you as long as you are authentically yourself." And so I always, I really do think if you wanna honor Dolly Parton, it's not about downloading nine to five and listening to it, you know, streaming it.

It's be more like Dolly Parton.

Oh, that's great.

[laughs]

There were only 20 publishers.

I got 24 rejection letters, which means some people were writing me twice to make sure I got the point.

But I said, "If they don't like that book, I'm gonna write another, and if they don't like that book, I'm gonna write another." And, and, you know, Chris and I, when we started this book series, we didn't know what we were doing.

We made lots of mistakes in our first books.

You know, we didn't know like how to figure out how to tell someone's story in the best way.

We, you know, we had to learn.

[laughs]

[laughs]

She was not impressed at all.

And then I told her the true story.

When Amelia Earhart was seven years old, she built a homemade rollercoaster in her backyard.

She took a wooden crate, she put roller skating wheels on the bottom, she shoved it to the roof of her tool shed, came flying down the side, flew through the air, crashed, and she was like, got up and was like, loved it.

And she said that feeling she had when her stomach bottomed out from under her, she wanted that feeling back again.

And that is the first time Amelia Earhart ever flew.

How did they pick the Wright brothers? How do they even know who the Wright brothers are, and wh- how-- explain how that popped up and that rose to the top.

But, um, what did you learn about their childhood that kind of informed you about their, their adult lives?

Well, as you know, you know, I always look for the lessons I can take for my own kids and for everyone else's kids, and in this one it was no different.

You know, their, their dad comes home one day when they're seven and eleven years old.

The boys are just young.

And he says, "I got a toy for you." And he opens up his hand and throws into the air, they call it a helicopter, but really it's just a propeller and a pencil and a rubber band.

You know, those ones you've seen.

And the boys lose their mind.

Mm-hmm

That's freaking awesome.

Yeah.

I m- I mean, I just l- I was like, "I'm gonna write the book to this moment," 'cause I know that's the perfect moment of the whole thing.

And, and listen, they're, they're...

What's so amazing about them is everyone calls them crazy, everyone laughs at them, everyone is completely wrong, right? There's people who have government contracts.

Everyone's com- It's not like they're the only guys tryin'...

Everyone's trying to craft now flight.

Are people, are, are people as excited for the Wright brothers as you were knowing that this was, this was, this was a big one for you?

Could you tell us the circumstances, and how much do you miss him?

Yeah, you know, I, of all things I've done in life, uh, I couldn't tell this story until about a year and a half ago, when right before President Bush Senior passed away, they were bringing some of his favorite authors to read to him on his deathbed, and I got the call.

And my wife and I were in Kennebunkport, Maine.

They brought us in.

It was...

Secret Service said, "You're gonna read to him just for about five or 10 minutes." And, uh, I was honored to be there.

So they said, "He's gonna fall asleep a lot.

Wow.

Could you tell us the circumstances and how much do you miss him?

Yeah, you know, I, of all things I've done in life, uh, I couldn't tell this story until about a year and a half ago when right before President Bush Senior passed away, they were bringing some of his favorite authors to read to him on his deathbed and I got the call.

And my wife and I were in Kennebunkport, Maine.

They brought us in.

It was Secret Service said, "You're gonna read to him just for about five or 10 minutes." And, uh, I was honored to be there.

So they said, "He's gonna fall asleep a lot.

He's sleeping a lot these days." I said, "No problem." So I, on his desk is a stack of books and one of mine is on the, is in that stack called The First Conspiracy, about a true-life secret plot to kill George Washington at the height of Revolutionary War.

Wow

Mm

... "Here's something brand new." And the Wright brothers, no one thinks they're gonna do it.

Everyone's like, "It's impossible.

It will never be done in human existence.

What you're trying to do cannot happen." And the thing that's interesting, and I didn't put this in the book, but I think it's talked about, exactly what you were mentioning, is that the Wright brothers eventually start working with the military because the military sees an opportunity here, and that's when the Wright brothers really are pissed off, right? They're just like, "You took our amazing invention, and now it's a weapon to kill people." And I'm not, it, it's not a judgment on, like, whether you should or shouldn't, and obviously there's so many great things and, you know, you don't win World War II without 'em.

You don't do all these things without 'em.

But it is fascinating to watch that any great thing in history can always be taken and then used for that purpose you never meant.

Wow

Why do you think, why did you choose them for the next installment of your wildly popular series?

You know, this is my favorite story about the Wright brothers, is every time the Wright brothers would go out to fly their plane, they'd bring enough extra materials for multiple crashes.

Which means every time they went out, they knew they would fail, and they would crash and rebuild and crash and rebuild, and that's why they took off.

40?

Yeah.

Let, let's talk about that.

I mean, right now we live in an age of, of anger, an age of division, and I refuse to accept that.

To me, what we should be teaching your kids, right, is we should be back in an age of inspiration.

You need to be able to hone it and not give away your IP in the process.

Well, what I love is the Wright brothers, when they're building, they have this bicycle shop, and they're building, there are all these other people trying to crack flight.

You have all these other people who have government funding, who have big money, who are big corporations who are looking to cash in.

They're all competing against the Wright brothers.

You know what the Wright brothers got? Nothing.

Wilbur and Orville, that's it, their own ingenuity.

They can't even afford to build a big model when they wanna build the engine and they wanna figure it out, so they build these tiny little toy versions, and then they build a little wind machine.

Better?