CCSD Advanced Learning
THE TWENTY-ONE BALLOONS
The Twenty-One Balloons is a story about retired math Professor William Waterman Sherman, who just wants to be alone. He decides to take a year off and spend it crossing the Pacific Ocean in a hot-air balloon. When he is found after just three weeks floating in the Atlantic Ocean among the wreckage of twenty hot-air balloons, the world is eager to know what happened. How did he end up with so many balloons...and in the wrong ocean?
WILLIAM PENE DUBOIS
William Pène Sherman du Bois (1916—1993) was an American author and illustrator of children’s books. DuBois was known for creating unique and peculiar characters in the stories he wrote.
Born into a family of artists, du Bois studied art in France and published books for children beginning in the mid-1930s. He also served as a correspondent during World War II. When he returned home from the war, he wrote his most acclaimed book, The Twenty-One Balloons.
In 1948 he was awarded the Newbery Medal The Twenty-One Balloons. The Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year.
