Soar, Elinor! by Tami Lewis Brown, Pictures by Francois Roca

[jeannineatkins]

The grinning young woman in the cockpit of a cherry red plane, the dash of the title on the cover, convey the spirit of this book. Amelia Earhart is fascinating, but the early twentieth century saw many more female pilots, and I’m glad to see Elinor Smith featured in a picture book.

Comments

[artistq]

LOVE!!!!!

I have a print of Kevin Slattery's Amelia in my studio! As a reminder to go farther!

[jeannineatkins]

Yes, go farther but don't necessarily fly over the Pacific in a small plane. Amelia is great, but it's nice to read in the afterward that Elinor raised four kids and was chatting about flight when she was 89. She had a daring streak, but clearly made some rational decisions along the way.

[jeniwrites]

Gosh, I wish there had been nonfiction books like these when I was growing up. I would have eaten this one up. Thrilled that I'll be able to share this one with my daughters someday.

[jeannineatkins]

Yes, I can't even imagine what it would have been like to find books like this. Your lucky daughters.

(thank goodness, though, for Laura Ingalls Wilder. and Louisa May Alcott)

[kellyrfineman]

Ooh - this looks fabulous!

[jeannineatkins]

Soar, Kelly! Even if that doesn't rhyme. Elinor and Soar is a very good one, I think.

[angeladegroot]

I'm happy to read that Elinor had such supportive parents. It makes all the difference when you have people who believe in you and your dreams. Lucky Elinor. Lucky me.

[jeannineatkins]

Elinor's parents were definitely a warm note in a book filled with danger.

When I wrote Girls Who Look Under Rocks, moms who encouraged their daughters to get dirty on the way to strange places their curiosity led them to was a theme. Rachel Carson's mother bought her books about fossils and insects and studied along with her when she was small. When Jane Goodall needed a chaperone to live in the wild in Africa, her mom came along.

I'm happy to hear you had that kind of luck and appreciate it.