Flying Over Brooklyn [Paperback]

Myron Uhlberg (Author), Gerald Fitzgerald (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

A magical story of how a young boy's everyday world is transformed into a snow-covered wonderland through the force of a blizzard and the power of a dream.

A young boy trudges through deep snow in a neighborhood park. Suddenly a strong wind grabs his coat and lifts the child up into the air. Soon the boy is soaring high above his strangely silent, snow-covered neighborhood. As he flies over familiar sites-a bridge over a frozen river, a baseball field, and an amusement park-he gains a new perspective on the world around him. The boy's airborne adventure provides a magical-if temporary-escape from the routine of everyday life. In the end the boy returns to the safety of his home and family, but is left wondering: Was it all just a marvelous dream or did it really happen?

Author Myron Uhlberg's story is based in part on his own childhood memories of the Great Blizzard of 1947 which blanketed Brooklyn and the surrounding area under several feet of snow. An author's note at the back of the book provides details about the snowstorm and places this fantasy in its historical context. Illustrator Gerald Fitzgerald's two-page, gently softened illustrations beautifully evoke the story's nostalgia and dreamlike quality.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A fond tour of a deserted, snow-covered Brooklyn, this nostalgic bookAUhlberg's firstAwas inspired by the author's memory of a record snowfall there in 1947. The child narrator recalls a day when a gust of wind launches him from a snowbank, and his long-standing, ardent wish to fly suddenly comes true. (The adventure turns out to be a dream.) More lyrical than plot-driven, the text links a series of sense impressions: of the Brooklyn Bridge, "its stone shoulders holding up a web of steel"; of Ebbets Field, where the boy "could almost smell the roasted peanuts"; of the lights of loud, bright Coney Island, now quiet with "each bulb topped with a tiny mitten of snow." Fitzgerald's (Casey at the Bat) kinetic artwork exploits the aerial perspectives as the exhilarated boy soars through a series of otherworldly skyscapes. Short brushstrokes create a busy, impressionistic effect, especially in the scenes of Coney Island, where Ferris wheel and roller coaster seem to dissolve into patterns of frost and light. Within the narrative's modest scope, Fitzgerald and Uhlberg create an enchanted vision of Brooklyn transformed but ever itself. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-In 1947, 25.8 inches of snow fell over Brooklyn, blanketing the New York City borough in white silence. The author recounts this wondrous event of his childhood through a dream sequence in which he is magically lifted up by the wind on his sledding hill until he is high enough to fly over all of his favorite places: the boathouse in Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Ebbets Field, and Coney Island. He describes the sights below him in wonderful detail and vivid images. The bridge has "stone shoulders holding up a web of steel"; the Wonder Wheel is "softened by pillows of snow"; each bulb on the electric lights is "topped with a tiny mitten of snow." When his mother awakens him in the morning, the young boy sees the fantasy of his dream almost come to life in his snow-covered neighborhood. The endpapers revealing only footsteps in snow as well as the Supermanlike outfits worn by the child on the copyright and title pages suggest the magic of the story. The horizontal shape of the book is a perfect choice for the panoramic views. The paint is thickly applied and the objects are blurred, aptly depicting the effect of layers of snow upon the landscape. Youngsters will delight in the idea of such a snow-filled flight. Pair this story with Uri Shulevitz's Snow (Farrar, 1998) for a magical winter storytime.
Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community-Technical College, CT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561452947
• ISBN-13: 978-1561452941
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 9.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,417,699 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 A Childhood Memory, February 24, 2000

By 

Robert Sax (Palm Desert, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flying Over Brooklyn (Hardcover)

Mr. Uhlberg's book FLYING OVER BROOKLYN should be required reading for any child who can read, or even before he has that ability. It is a lovely illustrated book that my grandchildren were delighted and fascinated by, especially when I was able to corroborate how the little boy felt. I, too, as a little boy lived through that blizzard in 1946 and that made the grandkids' eyes open wide, I guess with admiration that I had survived the ordeal. Kudos to Mr. Uhlberg. Give us more, sir!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect "Just One More Story" Before Bed, August 1, 2001

By 

Peppermint (Nevada, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Flying Over Brooklyn (Hardcover)

The other night, my three-year-old son couldn't sleep. I took out my daughter's copy of Flying Over Brooklyn and started to read. He was wide-eyed and smiling through the entire adventure and absolutely surprised when we reached the end, "That was a dream?" he asked. "Yes, go to sleep so you can have an adventure too," I replied. "Wow, I would if I could have dreams THAT good!" I am sure that when my children are older they will appreciate the dreamy glimpses of a world far removed from our own (Brooklyn) and the historic significance of a child's recollection of an unusual event, but for now, they simply enjoy sharing the boy's dream-come-true flight over a snow-covered city. Meanwhile, I appreciate the positive spin it gives to the words, "Bed-time!"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for city kids, March 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Flying Over Brooklyn (Hardcover)

"This is the first childrens book I have seen written for city kids. Every city kid will appeciate this story about flying over the city and seeing the great snow storm. It is truly a child's dream.