Book Description
for Night Flight by Robert Burleigh and Wendell Minor
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in her flight from Newfoundland, Canada, to Northern Ireland in May 1932. Robert Burleigh captures that historic event in this dramatic picture book account. “It is 3:00 a.m. Hour of drowse and snap-awake. / Hour of white knuckles. / Hour of flame streaming out of the cracked exhaust pipe. / Hour of being tested by the dark gods.” Burleigh and illustrator Wendell Minor take readers into the night, over the ocean, and toward the dawn with Amelia. Minor’s full-page paintings capture sea and sky, star and cloud, and the bright red plane and its solitary pilot, as well as the welcome green landscape of Ireland. “Two thousand and twenty-six miles. Fourteen hours and fifty-six minutes. / Alone.” A brief summary of Amelia’s accomplishments, quotes from her about being a woman pilot, a bibliography and Internet resources are included in the end matter. (Ages 7–10)
CCBC Choices 2012. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2012. Used with permission.