Night Flight has few words. It concentrates on just 14 hours and 56 minutes of time, starting in the evening from Harbour Grace in Newfoundland on May 20th, 1932, and ending in Ireland. The author recreates the experience in vivid descriptive language of what she had to do to stay awake, storms, failure of equipment, flying through the night. The author also describes what is seen from the plane as she left, during the night, flying over tundra, approaching land in Ireland. Imagine the Irish farmer coming toward this strange vehicle that had landed in his field, and the woman waving and saying, “I’ve come from America.” Amazing.
Robert Burleigh, Simon and Schuster, ©2011, 978-1-4169-6733-0
Talking With Amelia Earhart
The back of the book has many quotes from Amelia Earhart that are worth discussing with students, or using as prompts for journal writing:
- Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.
- I prefer good mechanical work to rabbits’ feet.
- I could not see. I carried on.
- Everyone has their own Atlantic to fly. Whatever you want very much to do, against the opposition of tradition, neighbourhood opinion, and so-called common sense—that is an Atlantic.
- One of my favourite phobias is that girls, especially those whose tastes aren’t routine, often don’t get a fair break.
- The most effective way to do it, is to do it.
Journal Writing
Having students draw from their own experience is a good way to get a journal response to a piece of
writing. Here are some possibilities:
- Amelia had to stay awake a long time. Describe a time when you were up very late. Did you have to do anything special to stay awake?
- Amelia was caught in a lightning storm. Describe an experience you had with a storm?
- Amelia had to be well prepared, but still incredibly brave. Describe a time when you prepared very well for something and then did it.
For 8 creative writing ideas, click Night Flight to download.
The author’s child learns in school that the Wright Brothers invented flight. Her Brazilian husband says, “No they didn’t. It was Alberto Santos-Dumont”.
This is the story of Mark Twain’s life in picture book form, with accompanying anecdotes from Susy who is writing this memoir so we can meet the “real” Mark Twain. Susy, Mark Twain’s favourite daughter, did keep a memoir of observations of her dad for a short period of time, and excerpts from it are included as little fold out pages. She talks about their home, his writing process and the role her mom plays, his leisure activities, and much more.
Ed Young is well known for his picture books. The House Baba Built is more in the nature of a memoir of his childhood in the house his father built in Shanghai in which the family lived during World War II. We learn about the war, school, family activities in the house, taking in refugees including a Jewish family, food shortages, being unable to fill the pool…all through his eyes as a child. You can take just a part of this book for a rich study of many different topics.
Philipe Petit was always challenged to walk the tightrope in as many difficult places as possible. As the twin towers were going up in New York in 2001 he determined that he would have to walk before it was finished and occupied. He organized friends, snuck in the ropes and rigging he would need with friends, suspended the rope and then he walked out into the wind. He walked, danced, ran, knelt, and even lay down on the rope. When arrested he was sentenced to perform for students in Central Park. The book ends poignantly with the shadows of the towers after the attack on September 11, 2001.
A wonderful retelling of the Aesop fable where the fox makes frequent attempts to get at the grapes until he finally says that they are probably sour anyway. Hence the expression “sour grapes”.
Huckleberry Finn tells, in his own voice, of the life of his author Mark Twain, a.k.a Samuel Clemens.
This is the story of fishermen who are caught in a huge wave that deposits a baby into their arms. He grows up uncertain as to where he comes from or who his real parents are. A fish promises to help him answer his questions. When the boy finally becomes scared, the fish turns into a dragon and says that Naoki now knows that his “real” parents are the ones that raised him.
Annie Taylor was the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, the first to survive, the first woman for over 95 years, and the only woman to do it alone. This is her story – the story of a woman over 60 years of age who did an amazing thing.
This one is my own book, which I’m quite thrilled with. It follows four characters—the beaver, Jon, Jesse, and Max—as they adventure with a Canadian science invention or discovery for each letter of the alphabet. From A is for Acetylene to Z is for Zipper (or B is for Blackberry to Y is for Yukon Gold Potato), Canadians are totally inventive. This title has been authorized for use in both BC and Alberta and is intended for Grades 4–9.
Diana Cruchley 