Fly Bessie Fly
Copyright © 2008 www.lynnjosephbooks.com
Reviews:
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-A picture-book biography about the first black female aviator. The author begins with Coleman's childhood and ends with the successful launch of her career, mentioning her premature death only in an author's note. The pen-and-ink and watercolor pictures take full advantage of the watercolor palette, showing brightly clad people in engaging settings. Puffy clouds float across skies that range from teal to lavender, royal blue to gray. The text relies heavily on dialogue. This accessible book is more substantial than Reeve Lindbergh's Nobody Owns the Sky (Candlewick, 1996) and is an adequate choice for those who don't mind poetic license in a biography.
Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Joseph uses a strong, steady present-tense narration to tell the story of Bessie Coleman, African-American, Texan, and world's first black woman aviator. What makes this treatment appealing is that Coleman's life lends itself to hyperbole, but Joseph reigns it in, imbuing the story with power and dignity. It will make readers angry at the injustices of the era: Jim Crow laws, whites-only ticket lines, Coleman's trip to France to get her pilot's license because her aspirations were considered absurd in the US. Joseph allows inspiration to form from a quiet presentation of facts; adding to the aura of possibility and grace under fire are Buchanan's sure, atmospheric ink-and-watercolor illustrations. (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP.
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-A picture-book biography about the first black female aviator. The author begins with Coleman's childhood and ends with the successful launch of her career, mentioning her premature death only in an author's note. The pen-and-ink and watercolor pictures take full advantage of the watercolor palette, showing brightly clad people in engaging settings. Puffy clouds float across skies that range from teal to lavender, royal blue to gray. The text relies heavily on dialogue. This accessible book is more substantial than Reeve Lindbergh's Nobody Owns the Sky (Candlewick, 1996) and is an adequate choice for those who don't mind poetic license in a biography.
Faith Brautigam, Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin, IL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
Joseph uses a strong, steady present-tense narration to tell the story of Bessie Coleman, African-American, Texan, and world's first black woman aviator. What makes this treatment appealing is that Coleman's life lends itself to hyperbole, but Joseph reigns it in, imbuing the story with power and dignity. It will make readers angry at the injustices of the era: Jim Crow laws, whites-only ticket lines, Coleman's trip to France to get her pilot's license because her aspirations were considered absurd in the US. Joseph allows inspiration to form from a quiet presentation of facts; adding to the aura of possibility and grace under fire are Buchanan's sure, atmospheric ink-and-watercolor illustrations. (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP.
Inspiration:
I had just won the Americas Award for Children’s Literature for my book The Mermaid’s Twin Sister and I had gone to Washington D.C. with my family to accept the award that was presented to me at the Library of Congress. It was such an honor. The next day, my family and I went walking around the city and ended up at the Air & Space Museum. While looking at the exhibits, I came across a small photograph on the wall of a Black woman in flight gear standing next to an old-fashioned plane and smiling so proudly that something just clicked into place in my mind and heart. Who is this? What is she doing here on this wall in a small frame? I read that her name was Bessie Coleman and that she was the first African-American to earn a pilot’s license. But that was all the information given about her. I stood there staring at her picture for a long time.
I went back home and couldn’t put Bessie Coleman out of my mind. This was in 1995 and Bessie’s photograph was from the 1920s. I tried to research Bessie Coleman but not much was written about her. Based on what I did find, I wrote this children’s book, Fly, Bessie, Fly to celebrate this young woman’s indomitable spirit.
I had learned that no one would teach Bessie to fly in the United States because of the color of her skin. But that did not stop Bessie. She mastered the French language, worked hard to save money and got herself to France and enrolled in flight school there. At times, when I am faced with obstacles and challenges toward reaching my goals, I think about Bessie Coleman and I never give up. This is the truth! This is the only book I have written that is not set in the Caribbean.
I had just won the Americas Award for Children’s Literature for my book The Mermaid’s Twin Sister and I had gone to Washington D.C. with my family to accept the award that was presented to me at the Library of Congress. It was such an honor. The next day, my family and I went walking around the city and ended up at the Air & Space Museum. While looking at the exhibits, I came across a small photograph on the wall of a Black woman in flight gear standing next to an old-fashioned plane and smiling so proudly that something just clicked into place in my mind and heart. Who is this? What is she doing here on this wall in a small frame? I read that her name was Bessie Coleman and that she was the first African-American to earn a pilot’s license. But that was all the information given about her. I stood there staring at her picture for a long time.
I went back home and couldn’t put Bessie Coleman out of my mind. This was in 1995 and Bessie’s photograph was from the 1920s. I tried to research Bessie Coleman but not much was written about her. Based on what I did find, I wrote this children’s book, Fly, Bessie, Fly to celebrate this young woman’s indomitable spirit.
I had learned that no one would teach Bessie to fly in the United States because of the color of her skin. But that did not stop Bessie. She mastered the French language, worked hard to save money and got herself to France and enrolled in flight school there. At times, when I am faced with obstacles and challenges toward reaching my goals, I think about Bessie Coleman and I never give up. This is the truth! This is the only book I have written that is not set in the Caribbean.
More than anything, Bessie Coleman wants to fly. As a small child working in a Waxahachie, Texas, cotton field, she likes to imagine she's a bird, getting ready to spread her wings and fly away. Then, when Bessie learns about the fighter pilots of World War I, she gets the idea that maybe she really can fly. But no one in the United States will teach her how to fly a plane because she's black and a woman. So Bessie Coleman devised a plan: she would go to France and take lessons there. But first she had to work hard and save money, learn how to speak French and then find passage on a ship to France. Despite the huge obstacles, Bessie pursued her dream and returned to the States with her pilot’s license in 1921.
Summary:
Far away, far away,
Up past the clouds.
High away, fly away,
And never come down.
Up past the clouds.
High away, fly away,
And never come down.
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