Fly! [Hardcover]

Christopher Myers (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

Jawanza watches everything from his window. He watches the children running and playing below, but most of all he watches the birds write all over the sky scribbling their crazy bird clouds. When he steps outside and meets Roderick the Three and his ensemble of feathered friends, he discovers a unique and unexpected friendship. Award-winning author/illustrator Christopher Myers brings us a thoughtful look at the beauty of friendship with Fly.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Myers revisits the theme of flight he explored in his mythically inspired Wings, this time with a more earthbound lesson in friendship. As a lone boy sits high atop his apartment building, he observes "a twisting river of birds flying patterns above my house." An emerald-green background emphasizes the boy's downcast expression; the darkness seems to weigh upon him, despite his sunny yellow shirt. The artist then shifts the perspective from the exterior view of the window to the shadowy interior of the apartment the flying pigeons outside the window dominate the vignettes. As the boy voices his frustration at being trapped inside, he yells at the pigeons, until a voice comes from the rooftop "like grits and gravy rains through the window." The voice belongs to the birds' keeper, an older man dressed in white "his skin is dark brown, the color of church wood, and sharp at the edges." He becomes the boy's unlikely instructor in the ways of friendship. As the boy ascends the stairs to the roof, his very clothing reflects the inevitable transition he undergoes: his magenta pants blend with the stairwell, while the patch of sunlight at the summit matches his T-shirt. With the man's guidance, the inscrutable patterns of the birds make sense to the boy. Just as readers learn most effectively from Myers's nonverbal cues here, the boy, too, learns to bond with the man in white, and with his birds, through observation rather than words. All ages.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

K-Gr 4-The intriguing title page of this stunning picture book pulls readers into the story of a lonely boy who views the world from his top-floor city apartment. From the window, he watches and hollers at the pigeons, "a twisting river of birds flying patterns above my house." His observations puzzle him: why are they flying "all crazy bunched together-making pigeon clouds?" It takes Mr. Roderick Jackson Montgomery the Three, who spends his time on the apartment house roof talking to, naming, and dancing with the birds, to help Jawanza understand them and to begin replacing his isolation with friendship. At first impatient with "Young blood" for yelling at his "onliest friends," the old man quickly befriends the child, introducing him to the individuality of the pigeons and urging patience with the promise that he, too, will ultimately dance with them. Eloquently told, the seemingly simple story suggests hidden layers of meaning, and readers will wonder why its two characters are so alone. Myers's dramatic paintings paradoxically both underscore the mystery and downplay unsettling elements, focusing attention instead on the extraordinary visual experience. Vivid blues, purples, greens, yellows, and reds play against the stylized, elongated brown-skinned people and the gray-and-black birds to produce richness and depth. The art conveys action and feeling through body pose and facial expression, and the m‚lange of brilliant colors deepens the emotional response. The image of Jawanza climbing the red stairs to the roof and another of a black bird on a stark white background, flying above its shadow, are particularly arresting. A soaring accomplishment.

Marie Orlando, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Jump At The Sun (November 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786806524
• ISBN-13: 978-0786806522
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 10.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,400,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Story, January 2, 2002

By 

Ruth Anne Champion (Pasadena, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fly! (Hardcover)

This story about friendship is told artistically by distinguished illustrator Christopher Myers. A lonely boy, Jawanza, is drawn to the rooftop of his apartment building by birds, who by his observation, "spell letters and numbers in their flight." There he meets a man, Roderick Jackson Montgomery, who is friends with the birds and communicates with them by dancing with them. Jawanza is full of questions and learns that it takes time and patience to make friends with the birds. In the end he has his own dance with one of them. He finds beauty from what would appear to be a drab environment. The text is laid out in white vertical space adjacent to the gutter on each page. The watercolor illustrations, full of emotion and movement, fill the rest of each page. This well designed book creatively uses color in the telling of an extraordinary story.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Come, Make Friends and Fly....., November 20, 2001

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fly! (Hardcover)

Jawanza loved to spend his days looking out his open window, high up, near the roof and sky. From there he could see the children playing far below. Better yet, he could watch the birds flying from rooftop to rooftop, doing their bird dances across the sky. At times he shouted to them, "Hey, birds! Why you flying like that-all crazy bunched together-making pigeon clouds?" The birds never answered, but one day a voice from above called down to him. There was an old man on the roof, a Mr Roderick Montgomery the Three, dancing with the birds, and Jawanza just had to go up and investigate..... Christopher Myers, author of Wings, is back with another poetic and evocative picture book. His gentle, lyrical text, full of imagery and magic, is complemented by his marvelously bold, bright and expressive artwork, and little imaginations will soar as they pore over the joy in each picture. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Fly is a special story of love, friendship and freedom that will transport kids up to the rooftop, and into another world.