Customer Reviews

I'll Fly My Own Plane (Joe Joe in the City)

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The third book in the "Joe Joe in the City" series, I'll Fly My Own Plane is a children's picturebook about a serious urban issue affecting families everywhere today. The young African-American boy Joe Joe is offered an illegal way to make quick money to buy an fancy airplane by drug dealers, but in the end Joe Joe comes to realize that it is better to work at an ethical, if less lucrative honest job and fly the simiple plane his own father made for him. A very highly recommended picturebook narrative written by jean Alicia Elster and illustrated by Nicole Tadgell, I'll Fly My Own Plane capably addresses an all too real pressure affecting young inner city children exposed to drug use and drug sales in urban environments today.

Got this with the kids [2nd to 4th graders] I mentor in an After School program in mind. Several, including those with difficulties, became seriously involved in the story, as well as the cultural figures in the story. They may be "inner city" but all kids can enjoy this as a "reading tool" plus the well known and lesser known Afro-Americans referred to in the story will be a great example of the rich history far too often overlooked in the regular school systems, regardless of ethnic backgrounds. Planning to get the other "Joe Joe" books real soon - the kids really liked this one.

Beautifully illustrated and wonderfully narrated, I'll Fly My Own Plane is a timely addition to the literature available for urban youth. The last of a three books in the Joe Joe in the City series. I'll Fly My Own Plane is the story where young Joe Joe values are tested when he's offered a dishonest opportunity to earn money to buy a fancy model plane. In the end Joe Joe decides it's better to fly the less expensive plane his father gave to him.

Elster is to be commended for addressing tough issues youth face in low income, urban areas. The story had well drawn characters and the growth of young Joe Joe grew organically out of the plot in a way that was subtle for the reader. I look forward to sharing this series with my own four year old.