HORSES WITH WINGS

``More than a hundred years ago...Prussian troops marched into France,'' begins this tale of a unique rescue mission: the Prussian siege of Paris trapped French leaders, and someone needed to escape to the countryside and raise an army. LÇon Gambetta volunteered to make the attempt by balloon; and though ``a bullet grazed his hand,'' he was able to fly, above clouds that Haseley says reminded him of ``horses with wings,'' like those he'd watched as a boy. He did raise an army, and never flew again. It's an interesting vignette, though the lack of a historical note is curious; perhaps Haseley wanted to avoid mentioning the war's painful outcome. Still, the story makes a good vehicle for Curlee's fine illustration debut; his clean, luminous art, elegantly framed in black rule, is handsomely designed and nicely embellished with period detail. (Picture book. 5-10)