School Age Storytime: "To Fly" -- Stories about Female Aviatrices Who Soared

School Age Storytime (K-4th) : "To Fly"
Stories about Little-Known Female Aviatrices Who Soared

(Inspiring biographical storytime about women who took risks,

includes original newsreel footage (via Youtube) of one of the flights.)

 

The Daring Miss Quimby by Suzanne George Whitaker (Holiday House, 2009)   Lively pictures accompany an exciting text about this flamboyant flyer  or  Brave Harriet: The First Woman to Fly the English Channel by Marissa Moss (Harcourt, 2001)  tells the same story in a fictionalized first person narrative.

 

Original Newsreel footage of the English Channel flight:

 

April 16th 1912 - Harriet Quimby Is Making History   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJQfY1_BwRI

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Harriet Quimby was the first American woman to fly across the English channel. Her achievement was overshadowed by the Titanic disaster.
Katherine Stinson Otero, High Flyer  by Neila Skinner Petrick (Pelican, 2006)  Lovely picture-book biography of this daring and adventurous individual or Soar, Elinor! by Tami Lewis Brown (Farrar, Straus, 2010.)  Inspiring biography of the sixteen-year-old girl who flew under NYC's bridges! or Ruth Law Thrills a Nation  by Don Brown (Houghton Mifflin, 1995)   Riveting details  enliven Brown's witty picture book  depicting  Ruth's record-breaking flight.

Nobody Owns the Sky: The Story of "Brave Bessie" Coleman by Reeve Lindbergh (Candlewick, 1998) . Superbly-written narrative verse of this inspiring black flyer who refused to take no for an answer.

Since it was the beginning of the school year, concluded with:

The Wrong Side of the Bed by Wallace Keller (Rizolli, 1992)  Hilarious tale of what happens when Mott literally gets up "on the wrong side of the bed."

Additional titles:

The Fabulous Flying Machines of Alberto Santos-Dumont by Victoria Griffith (Abrams, 2011) (Grade K+)  A  charming introduction to a quirky flyer who loved floating over Paris in his own personal flying machine and became the first man to lift off and land a completely self-propelled plane. 

Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America's Heart by Julie Cummins (Roaring Brook, 2013) (Grade 1+) Lively picture book biography of Ruth Elder who planned to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Though that failed, in 1929, she and 19 other women (including Amelia Earhart) flew solo across the country to prove women could pilot as well as men!

Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee by Marissa Moss (Tricycle, 2009) (Grade K+)  Taken from interviews with Maggie Gee herself, this is a wonderful picture book biography of one of the only Chinese-American women accepted into the World War II WASP (Women Airforce Pilots)

Flight by Robert Burleigh (Philomel, 1991) (Grade K+)  Breathless text and wonderful paintings convey the excitement of Charles Lindbergh's solo flight over the Atlantic.

McCarthy, Meghan. Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton. 2013. Unpaged. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $16.99 (978-1-4424-2262-9). K-Gr.3. The First Lady of Firsts, Betty Skelton blazed the trail for women in aviation, auto racing, and aeronautics. She soloed when she was just 12 years old and set records throughout her life.

Burleigh, Robert. Night flight: Amelia Earhart crosses the Atlantic. Illus. by Wendell Minor. 2011. Unpaged. Simon & Schuster, $16.95 (978-1-4169-6733-0). K-Gr.3. This uplifting picture book recounts Amelia Earhart’s sky-breaking solo trip across the Atlantic in 1932.

And of course, there are many books on Amelia Earhart, the Wright Brothers, and other flyers.

See also: http://nobodyownsthesky.wordpress.com/

Bedm. 9/2013