Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine by Heather Lang

"I believe Ruth has performed a useful mission in the world. She has proved a woman can do things and I believe she has benefited aviation by shaming some of the men who lacked the nerve to help develop the airplane."    Ruth Law's father

Ruth Law is remembered as an extraordinary woman aviation pioneer who made the first flight from Chicago to New York. Ruth had already made many contributions to aviation, including breaking the altitude record for women and also for performing acrobatic stunts.

Born in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1887, Ruth and her brother Rodman were active and daring children, always playing "hazardous pranks" according to their father. Rodman Law grew up to become a daredevil and movie stuntman while Ruth decided she would like to fly. However, when she approached Orville Wright, he refused to give her flying lessons, believing that flying was not something a young woman could master. Of course, Ruth proved him wrong. Wright did sell Ruth a plane though and she was able to find another instructor, learning to fly in a mere three weeks and obtaining her license in 1912. Ruth, being mechanically-minded was capable of maintaining her own plane. She could tell by the sound of the motor whether something was wrong. After earning her pilot's license, Ruth did air shows, doing stunts like the "loop the loop" but she is best known for her flight from Chicago to New York City in one day in 1916.

The early 1900's were a time of great social change and women were leading the way, fighting for the right to participate more fully in society and to have the right to vote. In 1916 Ruth Law decided she wanted to prove that women were serious aviators and she wanted to set the American record for the longest nonstop flight. Victor Carlstrom had just set a new record of 452 miles. Ruth knew she could fly farther - she planned to fly from Chicago to New York, something that had not yet been attempted by any man.

People were skeptical but this did not deter Ruth nor did the fact that the manufacturer of the larger plane she needed, refused to sell to her. This was because Glenn Hammond Curtiss was busy making planes for use in World War I and also because he felt as a woman, Ruth Law was not capable of flying the larger plane. In fact the plane Ruth used was a small Curtiss biplane with the propeller in the back and the cockpit completely exposed to the elements. As with other women trailblazers, Ruth would have to overcome many serious obstacles to accomplish her remarkable feat.

Heather Lang's picture, Fearless Flyer book tells young readers how Ruth accomplished her amazing feat. Lang describes Ruth's determination and her resourcefulness in attacking the many obstacles that she needed to overcome if she was to be successful. Many of Ruth's own words are incorporated into the story, providing valuable insight into Ruth's personality. Flying could be a scary experience, but Ruth Law loved the challenge and the thrill. She would not be thwarted by those who insisted a woman could not undertake such a challenge.

Accompanying Lang's recounting of Ruth's historic flight are Raul Colon's exquisite illustrations rendered in Prismacolor pencils. The drawings, softly textured and impressionistic at times capture many moments of Ruth's flight over the countryside and accurately portray the machine she flew.

Included at the back of the book is a two-page section titled More About Ruth Law as well as a Bibliography and a list of Source Notes which indicate that Heather Lang did extensive research for this picture book. Fearless Flyer is a great read-aloud book for the classroom or at home and a great way to inspire young girls to  persevere and reach for the sky.

Book Details:

Fearless Flyer: Ruth Law and Her Flying Machine by Heather Lang
Honesdale, Pennsylvania: Calkins Creek   2016

Promise the Night by Michaela MacColl

Promise the Night tells the fascinating story of Beryl Markham's childhood in East Africa. Beryl Markham was the first woman to fly solo from east to west, across the Atlantic Ocean in 1936.

Markham was born Beryl Clutterbuck in 1902. In 1904 her mother and father along with Beryl moved to Kenya to farm. Within two years her mother had abandoned the family and returned to England, leaving 2 year old Beryl and her father  in British East Africa. Beryl's father was a racehorse trainer and he allowed his young daughter to mingle freely with the African natives, learning their culture. MacColl's novel picks up the story when Beryl is ten years old, uneducated and mostly left to wander at will. The story is set on Green Hills Farm, Njoro, British East Africa which is now known as Kenya.

Beryl lives in a mud hut known as a rondavel only a short distance away from her father's rondavel. One night, her beloved dog, Buller, is attacked by a leopard who carries him off into the forest. When her father refuses to rescue the dog, the next morning Beryl goes into the forest to track and find him. In the bush she meets a native boy, Kibii who is from the Nandi tribe. Kibii was sent by his father, Arap Maina who works for Beryl's father, Captain Clutterbuck to find Beryl. Kibii locates Buller and together the two carry the severely injured dog back to her father's compound. Captain Clutterbuck tells Beryl she will be returning to England but when Beryl protests, Arap Maina offers to teach her the ways of the Nandi tribe as a means of keeping her out of trouble.

Beryl is taken to Kibii's village and meets his mothers and is told that she will help the Nandi women weave a thatched roof. However Beryl is not interested in women's work but instead wants to learn how to hunt. Arap Maina allows Beryl to train with the young boys learning "to track animals, wrestle and even throw a spear at a target." But she is not allowed to learn how to hunt. Later on Arap Maina's resolve weakens as Beryl insists that she wants to become a murani or warrior, something women are not allowed to do. Initially Arap Maina allows Beryl to watch the Nandi hunt a leopard.

Mrs. Emma Orchardson arrives at the Clutterbuck Farm along with her son Arthur, to keep house for Beryl's father. Beryl's father has built a new house, which Beryl notes might have convinced her mother to remain on the farm if it had been built years ago. Beryl however, continues to live in her hut. She doesn't take very well to Arthur whom she considers to be somewhat of a sissy. Beryl's dislike of Arthur almost results in her and Arthur being seriously injured by Simi the baboon who is a pet on the farm. Simi viciously attacks Arthur leading Beryl to quickly intervene. She finds herself in a deadly battle with the baboon, which she ends up killing.

That night Kibii takes Beryl to the Kikuyu village to watch the men dancing. However, when Beryl goes missing her father sends one of his Boer foremen to search for her and she is hauled home. Captain Clutterbuck is concerned about Beryl's knack for getting herself into dangerous situations, while Emma worries about her wild upbringing. Emma insists Captain Clutterbuck hire a governess for his daughter, which he reluctantly agrees to do.

The next day Captain Clutterbuck takes the train to Nairobi. Beryl rides with him to the train station at Nakuru. On the trip Beryl's father attempts to persuade her that a governess will be good for her and that she must try to get along with Emma who is there to stay. When Beryl returns to Green Hills, she goes to visit the Nandi village. Arap Maina tells the young boys that the murani will hunt the lion who is endangering their cattle. When Beryl insists she be allowed to go on the hunt, Arap Maina agrees only if she promises to follow his orders. Both Kibii and another boy, Mehru are angry that Beryl is allowed to participate.

Beryl is taken on the hunt and given a bodyguard named Tepli who is very reluctant to have her in his care. When the lion charges Arap Maina, Beryl courageously diverts the lion so he can be killed. Arap Maina tells Beryl she did well because like a warrior, she did not run. When Beryl returns home she finds her father has been given the pelt of the lion killed in the hunt. Her father is furious that she has been involved in such a dangerous event. Beryl finds her father has brought back a governess, Miss Le May. Not surprisingly, Beryl and Miss Le May do not get along. Their relationship turns into one of full-out war with Miss Le May whipping Beryl in an attempt to get her to learn math. Beryl eventually flees to her hut and is locked in by the governess. She is able to escape to the Nandi where she stays for two weeks. When her father returns, Beryl is able to show him what's been happening and Miss Le May is fired.

Things change drastically when Beryl is attacked by Mehru and is forced to fight him. When Captain Clutterbuck comes across the two fighting, he beats Mehru badly, believing he tried to violate Beryl. This creates much tension between the Nandi and Captain Clutterbuck who doesn't understand the Nandi culture. Beryl's bad luck continues when she is attacked by a nearby farmer's pet lion. Seriously wounded Beryl is rescued but her father who now warns her he's had enough.  Beryl's father decides to send her away to be educated in Nairobi, telling her he has no choice. Thrust into the British world of boarding schools and regulations, Beryl must adjust to her new life. Will things every be the same for Beryl when she returns to her beloved Green Hills?

Discussion

Promise the Night is probably Michaela MacColl's best novel to date. It is a richly crafted novel that explores the themes of friendship and identity in a unique setting while telling a coming of age story.

MacColl brilliantly captures Beryl's headstrong personality even though at times Beryl is a genuinely difficult, unlikeable character. As a ten-year-old she refuses to follow any of the social norms of civilized society. She insists on living in a mud hut and on going barefoot. Her hair is uncombed, her face dirty and she does not wear the dresses and hats common to young girls of this time period. She doesn't go to school and places no value in education. Instead Beryl is allowed to roam freely on the farm and to mingle with the East African natives. Exposed to their culture early on she is determined to become a murani and is desperate to participate in the hunts.

However this immersion in native culture inevitably sets Beryl up for much internal conflict. She fears growing up because it will mean the loss of her friendship with Kibii. Beryl's relationship with Kibii will change when he is initiated into manhood in the Nandi and as Beryl grows into a young woman. Emma asks Beryl to confront the reality of her life by recognizing the changes beginning in her own body. Beryl tells Emma that she doesn't want to grow up because it means she will have to give up the very things that she has in common with Kibii, hunting, wrestling and running. Emma forces Beryl to confront the reality of her situation: "You could kill every lion in the highlands, but you will still be a white girl. You're the daughter of a respected landowner, his heir." Emma also tells her that because of her father's unusual situation of being abandoned by his wife and because she is still married, her father is ostracized by the other settlers.

However Beryl comes to understand that even though she's gone away to school and returned to Green Hills, and even though Kibii is now murani and known as Arap Ruta, their friendship still endures. At first when she returns to the farm, Beryl believes that Kibii doesn't want to have anything to do with her. But Arap Ruta comes to see her after Beryl has helped her horse, Coquette birth a colt. When they meet, Beryl tells him that much to her surprise, the stars looked the same in Nairobi as on the farm. It is she who is different. Even though Kibii is now a warrior and Beryl is growing into a young women, they are still the same people and still friends.

MacColl tells Beryl Markham, nee Clutterbuck's story by weaving together two narratives: the main story is that of a ten year old girl struggling to find her identity as the daughter of a white farmer in East Africa interspersed with the narrative of a daring young woman determined to fly across the Atlantic from England to New York in 1936.

Promise the Night also conveys to young readers what life was like in East Africa in the early 20th century. There is some portrayal of culture which MacColl based on the Masai tribe because information was more readily available for the Masai than the Nandi. Readers are given a glimpse of the rigors endured to build a railway in East Africa when Beryl takes the train home from Nairobi. And of course, the social conventions common to England were still strictly adhered to in British Africa.

MacColl was motivated to write this historical novel after hearing her mother, an amateur pilot, speak about Beryl Markham's memoir, West with the Night. With such a personal connection to flying, it's no surprise the MacColl was able to capture the essence of Beryl Markham's character.

Although Beryl Markham was known for her solo transatlantic flight, this feat is really secondary to young Beryl's childhood in Promise the Night. Young Beryl's narrative is filled with references to her future flying career. When she is with Kibii she tells him that she would love to fly over the valley like and eagle. Later on when Captain Clutterbuck is attempting to convince Beryl that a governess might be good for her, he tells her the story of Icarus and Daedalus who escaped the island of Crete by flying. Although it's a foreshadowing of Beryl's own dangerous flight years later, the Captain is warning her against being reckless.

Overall, Promise The Night is a wonderful novel, engaging and well written. Fans of historical fiction and those wanting to learn more about famous and unconventional women will be delighted with Michaela MacColl's retelling. There is an excellent Author's Note at the back and a list for further reading as well.

Book Details:

Promise Of The Night by Michaela MacColl
San Francisco: Chronicle Books       2011
262 pp.

The Pilot and the Little Prince by Peter Sis

This delightful picture book explores the unusual life of French aviator and author, Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Antoine was born at the turn of the last century on June 29, 1900 in Lyon, France. he came from a family filed with titled persons including counts, barons and archbishops. His father, Count Jean de Saint-Exupery died in 1904, when Antoine was only four years old. Antoine had two older sisters, Marie-Madeleine born in 1897 and Simone born in 1898 and a younger brother, Francois born in 1902 and a younger sister, Gabrielle born in 1903. After their father's death Antoine and his siblings were raised by his mother, Countess Marie de Fonscolombe and her family. Antoine was an unusual child, eager to explore and curious about the world around him.

In the early 1900's, France was the center of the newly developed aviation world. In 1909, Louis Bleriot was the first person to cross from France to England by plane. Captivated by the rapid developments in aviation, Antoine made his own flying machine when he was twelve years old. He even managed to get a pilot at a nearby air field to take him up in his plane.

His love for flying consumed Antoine; he studied at the Lycee Saint-Louis in Paris in preparation for the Naval Academy's entrance exam but he failed. In 1920 he quit his studies at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Like his fellow Frenchmen over the age of twenty-one who were drafted into the military, Antoine began his service in 1921. He did not have a license to fly but eventually he did learn to fly through private lessons paid for by his mother. Throughout the remainder of his required military service he flew longer and longer distances. Antoine was discharged from the military in June, 1923. Despite various jobs his love of flying continued. He managed to get hired on by an airline company that specialized in delivering the mail. Eventually he was flying the mail from France to Spain and then throughout Europe and also along the West African coast. At this time aviators used landmarks as guides and therefore did not fly at night. Airplanes also often flew in pairs in case one crashed!

Antoine was placed in charge of the airfield at Cape Juby on the West African coast. With its solitude and simple lifestyle Cape Juby inspired Antoine to write. Desiring more aviation adventures, Antoine and other aviators began flying to South America and across that continent, establishing mail routes. While flying in South America, Antoine often worked on his latest book - this one called Night Flight as the pilots often flew at night. Antoine had many adventures prior to World War II; he received the Legion of Honor medal for his work at Cape Juby, Night Flight was published in 1931, he worked as a newspaper correspondent in the Soviet Union, Spain and Morocco and he even found time to marry. He even attempted to be the fastest flight from Paris to Saigon in 1935. Even more adventures and fame were waiting for Antoine with the start of World War II in 1939 and his call-up to military service once again. But the best adventure occurred during a two year interlude while living in the United States. During this time, Antoine wrote another book, The Little Prince which became a very famous children's book.

Discussion

Peter Sis has written and illustrated this lovely picture book that will likely appeal more to students researching Antoine de Saint-Exupery or to adults rather than young children. While the text gives the basic facts of Antoine's remarkable life in a simple, direct way, the true appeal of this book is the elaborate illustrations that accompany the text. Readers will find themselves lingering over each of the illustrations, reading the small text but also attempting to understand the significance of the many images that make up each picture.  Each colourful illustration which takes up two pages, incorporates many fascinating facts about Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Sis's artwork, some of which is done in a pointillism style, elaborates on the text either below the artwork or preceding it. For example, the first two pages are about a Antoine as a little boy and the time he was born into. 

There are plenty of references to his life including a small drawing of a transparent hat with an elephant in it - a direct reference to the opening pages of  his well known boot, The Little Prince. These two pages are filled with drawings of various flying machines - a hint to the pioneers of aviation throughout history, and the exotic lands Antoine would visit in his lifetime. Some of the two page spreads are easy to understand; a landscape filled with faces after Sis tells us that Antoine was told by a fellow aviator to "follow the face of the land" or the last two page spread which shows a plane flying straight up into the heavens - a reference to Antoine's last flight from which he never returned. Others are more intriguing; the map of Long Island where Antoine wrote the Little Prince looks like a crocodile.

Peter Sis was born in Brno, Czechoslovakia in 1949. He studied in Prague at the Academy of Applied Arts and later at the Royal College of Art in London. Originally a film maker, Sis defected to the West after the film he was making about the 1984 Olympics was cancelled when the Eastern Bloc decided to boycott the Los Angeles games. Thus began his second career as a author/illustrator. Peter's work as both an author and an illustrator has been prolific; his book Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei won the 1997 Caldecott Honor Book Medal, many thousands of his illustrations have appeared in Time Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, The Atlantic Monthly and Esquire.

If you haven't read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery take the time to do so. It's a delightful book and The Pilot and the Little Prince makes a great companion book to read afterwards.

Book Details:
The Pilot and the Little Prince by Peter Sis
Frances Foster Books      2014