An introduction to real flight — taught through story.
Know someone who is fascinated by airplanes? Someone who wants to learn to fly? The Flying Explorers Series is a story-driven introduction to real flight — built for curious young readers, parents, and educators.
The story comes first. The aviation is real.
Across the series, readers step into a world where preflight planning matters, weather changes, navigation takes attention, and good decisions keep everyone safe.
Characters learn to communicate clearly, follow procedures, and stay calm when conditions stop cooperating.
Expect recurring flight themes: training flights, checklists, runway awareness, basic navigation, weather and wind, risk, and what pilots actually do when things don’t go as planned.
For parents and educators, each book includes optional back-of-book resources — designed to support discussion and deeper learning without turning reading time into homework.
• Available in Kindle Editions • Paperbacks
What makes it different
This isn’t “airplanes as decoration.” The flying is part of the plot — and the plot teaches what pilots actually do: planning, communication, risk awareness, and calm execution.
Story first
Fast pacing, real stakes, and characters who grow — without turning into a textbook.
Real-world aviation thinking
Checklists, runway awareness, weather basics, and “what if” planning show up naturally in the story.
Optional resources
Back-of-book prompts and extensions for parents/educators who want to go deeper — optional, never required.
Downloads and Materials
Links to official charts, rules, and procedures to enhance the experience from official FAA sources.
Books
Book 1 — The Day Tamias Looked Up
Tamias can’t stop staring at the sky. A single question turns into training flights, hard rules, and real responsibility.
Book 2 — The Sky Has Rules
Flying isn’t freedom without discipline. Tamias learns why procedures exist — and what happens when you ignore them.
Book 3 — Never Trust a Flying Squirrel
It's solo time, but with a twist. The learning deepens. Trust, just a little, develops.
Book 4 — Over the River and Over the Woods
We go places. We learn advanced navigation. We learn redundancy. The sky is opening up.
Book 5 — Seeing When You Can't See
What do pilots do when the sky is cloudy? Foggy? When the world below is invisible?
Book 6 — The Tale of the Useless Tail
How do our bodies lie in flight? How do we stay safe when our body says one thing, and the sky says another?
About the series
The Flying Explorers Series is built for readers who love airplanes and want the real logic behind flight — not fantasy, not shortcuts, not decorative aviation. These books are grounded in authentic aeronautical principles. The procedures are real. The terminology is accurate. The decision-making reflects how actual pilots are trained to think and act.
Each volume blends character-driven storytelling with genuine aviation knowledge: preflight planning, runway discipline, wind awareness, weather evaluation, navigation fundamentals, checklists, communication protocols, risk assessment, and calm execution under pressure. When something happens in the air, it happens for the same reasons it would in the real world.
The aviation isn’t decorative. It drives the plot. Mistakes have consequences. Preparation matters. Discipline matters. Readers don’t just watch airplanes fly — they learn how and why flight works.
Across a 10-book arc, readers follow Tamias from wide-eyed curiosity to structured training, discovering that aviation is not about thrill-seeking. It is about systems thinking, responsibility, humility, and earned competence. Intelligence alone is not enough. The sky rewards preparation.
Ideal for middle-grade readers, aviation families, homeschoolers, and STEM-focused classrooms, The Flying Explorers Series offers something rare: an engaging story that respects both young readers and the seriousness of flight. Each book includes optional back-of-book educational resources to deepen understanding without interrupting the adventure.
The story comes first.
The aviation is real.
And the journey is just beginning.
Contact
Send a message. If the form fails, email toaduniversitypress@gmail.com.
Reviews
Pre-Readers Wanted:
Pre-Readers: The publisher is seeking more pre-readers for this series. If you wish to be a pre-reader, please use the contact form and mention why you think you would be a good pre-reader for this series.
Pre-Reader Review (Books 1–3) (42 year old pilot and father of 3)
I had the opportunity to pre-read the first three books in The Flying Explorers Series, and they genuinely surprised me.
These aren’t fast, flashy airplane adventures. The training feels structured and realistic. The characters have to slow down, study, prepare, and earn each step forward. That makes the flying feel meaningful instead of dramatic for its own sake.
Book 1 (The Day Tamias Looked Up) focuses on the beginning — curiosity turning into responsibility. It takes its time introducing the world of aviation in a way that feels grounded and thoughtful.
Book 2 (The Sky Has Rules) deepens that idea. It makes clear that procedures exist for a reason, and that discipline is part of what makes flight possible.
By Book 3 (Never Trust a Flying Squirrel), the independence starts to build. The relationships feel more layered, and the stakes feel higher because the foundation was built carefully in the first two books.
What I appreciated most is that the books don’t oversimplify aviation. The concepts are real, but they’re woven naturally into the story. The appendices are especially helpful for readers who want to understand the “how” behind what’s happening.
This series would be a great fit for middle-grade readers who are fascinated by airplanes, as well as families who want something thoughtful and grounded rather than purely fantasy-driven.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the training evolves in the later books.
Pre-Reader Review (39 year old mother of 2)
— Mom (who knew almost nothing about aviation)
I had the chance to pre-read the first few books in The Flying Explorers Series, and I’m going to be honest — I went in knowing basically nothing about aviation. I couldn’t have told you the difference between a yoke and a yolk.
The first book, The Day Tamias Looked Up, completely surprised me. Instead of rushing into “whee, let’s fly,” it slows down and shows what actually has to happen before anyone leaves the ground. Manuals, checklists, expectations — it made flying feel serious in a way I didn’t expect from a story about a chipmunk.
By the time I got into The Sky Has Rules, I found myself nodding along. The idea that procedures exist for a reason really stuck with me. It wasn’t preachy — it just quietly made sense. You start to understand that aviation isn’t about being brave; it’s about being prepared.
And somewhere during Never Trust a Flying Squirrel, I realized I was actually nervous during certain scenes. That surprised me most of all. The training feels real enough that when something important is happening, you feel the weight of it. My child loved the adventure. I loved the responsibility behind it.
What I appreciate most is that the books don’t talk down to kids — or to parents. I learned things without feeling like I was reading a textbook. And yes… by the end of the third book, I had quietly started looking up what a “discovery flight” costs in our area.
If you’d told me a few months ago that a children’s series would make me consider flight lessons, I would have laughed. But here we are.
These books are thoughtful, engaging, and just grounded enough to make you believe that maybe — just maybe — the sky isn’t as unreachable as it looks.
Pre-Reader Review (29 year old instrument-rated pilot)
— Commercial student, read with 9-year-old nephew
I picked these up thinking I’d just skim them with my nephew (he’s 9, already obsessed with airplanes), and ended up reading all three cover to cover myself. I’m currently working on my commercial, instrument rated, and I’ll be honest—there were moments where I stopped and thought, “this is actually explained better than how I learned it.”
What surprised me most is that the books don’t “dumb it down.” They simplify without losing accuracy. Pattern work, decision-making, even the way consequences are introduced—it all tracks with real flying. My nephew got the story. I got the systems behind it. That’s not easy to pull off.
We read them together, but I found myself going back alone afterward. That probably says everything.
Pre-Reader Review (Parent of 11-year-old reader)
— Mom of an airplane-obsessed kid
My son has been airplane-obsessed since he could talk, so we’ve gone through a LOT of aviation books. Most are either too technical for him or too childish to hold his attention. This is the first series where he’s completely locked in.
He read all three and now walks around talking about procedures and “doing things the right way.” He even told us—completely seriously—that he wants to go to Toad University when he grows up. That’s how real it feels to him.
As a parent, what I appreciate is that the books don’t just entertain. They teach responsibility, patience, and thinking ahead. It’s not just “flying is cool”—it’s “flying has rules,” and he gets that now.
We’re already waiting for the next ones.
Pre-Reader Review (Teacher)
— Classroom educator
I don’t usually write reviews, but these stood out.
From a teaching standpoint, the structure is unusually strong. Concepts are introduced, reinforced through narrative, and then revisited in a way that builds—not repeats. That’s difficult to do well, and it’s done very intentionally here.
Also, they’re engaging. Students would actually read these without being told to.
Frankly, I wish aviation—or at least this kind of applied systems thinking—had a place in the standard curriculum. There’s decision-making, sequencing, consequences, even risk management, all embedded naturally in the story. That’s real learning, not just content exposure.
Minor note: a few sentences here and there could be tightened, but it doesn’t detract from the overall effectiveness.
These are well designed books.
Reviewer: (Coming soon)
Review: More reviews will appear here once pre-readers send them