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THE DARING MISS QUIMBY

A fearless female becomes an inspiring American aviation icon in this biography of Harriet Quimby’s brief, daring life. After seeing her first air show in 1910, magazine writer Quimby completed 33 flying lessons in three months to become the first American woman to earn a pilot’s license. As a pilot on the air-show circuit, she soon dazzled fans in her purple satin flight suit. In April 1912 she flew through dense fog to become the first female to fly solo across the English Channel. Three months later she fell to her untimely death during an air show over Boston Harbor, terminating her short-lived career. Whitaker’s lively text highlights Quimby’s pioneer spirit that set the stage for later female aviators like Amelia Earhart, Bessie Coleman, Anne Lindbergh and Sally Ride. Stock’s equally lively, energetic watercolor illustrations capture Quimby’s spirited enthusiasm as she fearlessly tackles roadsters, racecars and flying machines, and convey the glamour, excitement and danger of early aviation. An accessible introduction to Quimby and her enduring role in aviation history. (timeline of women in aviation; author’s note; suggested websites; selected bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-8234-1996-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009

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TINY LITTLE ROCKET

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off.

This rocket hopes to take its readers on a birthday blast—but there may or may not be enough fuel.

Once a year, a one-seat rocket shoots out from Earth. Why? To reveal a special congratulatory banner for a once-a-year event. The second-person narration puts readers in the pilot’s seat and, through a (mostly) ballad-stanza rhyme scheme (abcb), sends them on a journey toward the sun, past meteors, and into the Kuiper belt. The final pages include additional information on how birthdays are measured against the Earth’s rotations around the sun. Collingridge aims for the stars with this title, and he mostly succeeds. The rhyme scheme flows smoothly, which will make listeners happy, but the illustrations (possibly a combination of paint with digital enhancements) may leave the viewers feeling a little cold. The pilot is seen only with a 1960s-style fishbowl helmet that completely obscures the face, gender, and race by reflecting the interior of the rocket ship. This may allow readers/listeners to picture themselves in the role, but it also may divest them of any emotional connection to the story. The last pages—the backside of a triple-gatefold spread—label the planets and include Pluto. While Pluto is correctly labeled as a dwarf planet, it’s an unusual choice to include it but not the other dwarfs: Ceres, Eris, etc. The illustration also neglects to include the asteroid belt or any of the solar system’s moons.

A fair choice, but it may need some support to really blast off. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 31, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-338-18949-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: David Fickling/Phoenix/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018

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TRASHY TOWN

Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches...

Listeners will quickly take up the percussive chorus—“Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the Trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO”—as they follow burly Mr. Gilly, the garbage collector, on his rounds from park to pizza parlor and beyond.

Flinging cans and baskets around with ease, Mr. Gilly dances happily through streetscapes depicted with loud colors and large, blocky shapes; after a climactic visit to the dump, he roars home for a sudsy bath.

Part of a spate of books intent on bringing the garbage collectors in children’s lives a little closer, this almost matches Eve Merriam’s Bam Bam Bam (1995), also illustrated by Yaccarino, for sheer verbal and visual volume. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: April 30, 1999

ISBN: 0-06-027139-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999

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