The Mystery of The Small World

The clues: An oddly shaped kite with a Bell Homestead Museum tag, a toy airplane, a delivery receipt for a package from China The file label: "Small World" The investigation: E.B. isn't convinced the delivery receipt in the file is a clue. The toy airplane and kite are flying toys so maybe that's what the mystery is about. At the Bell Homestead Museum, E.B. discovers that Alexander Graham Bell didn't only invent the telephone; he also dreamed of a human flying machine. By building and flying a tetrahedral kite, E.B. finds out that kites were a big part of Bell's flight experiments. Meanwhile, Kyla visits the Aviation Association where she checks out vintage airplanes. She flies in a propeller plane and even gets to steer it herself! The world sure seems small from up there. E.B. follows the shipping receipt to the massive Fed Ex facility. He finds out that packages from as far away as China can get delivered by airplane the very next day. Mystery solved: The kids discover that the invention of flight has turned the planet into a "Small World", making us a global community.