Joe-Joe's First Flight [Hardcover]

Natasha Tarpley (Author), Earl B. Lewis (Illustrator)

Book Description

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

Joe-Joe’s father works at the local airport, one of the first in the area, at a time when segregation rules. Even though the men who work at the airport, including Joe-Joe’s dad, were promised flying jobs, the owner refuses to let them fly. The town of Blind Eye has lost hope over the men’s heartbreak and the injustice being done to them, so much so that the moon won’t shine down on it any longer. More than anything, Joe-Joe wants to bring the moon back to Blind Eye so he can return hope to the townspeople. This is an extraordinary storybook about lost hope and what can happen when dreams are allowed to flourish.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Ever since planes began to take off from the little airport in the town of Blind Eye in 1922, Joe-Joe's father has yearned to fly and he inflames his son with that same longing. But despite promises from his boss at the airport, it's obvious that African Americans will not be allowed to take to the air any time soon. Such a pall covers the town because of this injustice that even the Moon remains hidden: "All that lost hope formed a cloud over the town, and now even the moonlight and the stars can't break through." In his imagination, Joe-Joe climbs aboard a plane, flies to the Moon, and brings it home to the cheers of the townsfolk below. Lewis's large watercolor paintings capture the flavor of this period-caps, knickers, cars, flying helmet, and goggles-and the early planes. From a beginning quote by Virginia Hamilton, "They say the people could fly-" to the endnote in which Tarpley elaborates on African Americans' struggle for the right to fly, this is a celebration of the human spirit and the courage and determination of a people to soar. Louise Borden and Mary Kay Kroeger's Fly High: The Story of Bessie Coleman (McElderry, 2001) would extendthis story.
Marianne Saccardi, Norwalk Community College, CT
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

PreS-Gr. 2. In the 1920s, in a town called Blind Eye, a boy named Joe-Joe dreams about flying. His father works at the town's airport, but like the other African American workers, he hasn't been allowed to fly planes. The town's hopelessness hangs so heavily that "even the moonlight and stars can't get through." One evening Joe-Joe goes to the airport with his father, and as he curls up in a plane's cockpit, he dreams of soaring off the runway and coaxing the moon to follow him home. Children may have difficulty determining where Joe-Joe's dream begins and ends, but Tarpley's warm, colloquial words and Lewis' exquisite watercolors capture the joy and sense of empowerment in the boy's fantasy as well as the tenderness between father and son. Children who share Joe-Joe's dream will also love Lewis' detailed images of the antique planes. An afterword gives some history of African American aviation. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (June 10, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375810536
• ISBN-13: 978-0375810534
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,360,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Natasha Anastasia Tarpley is the author of the best-selling picture book I Love My Hair!, Princess Tiana and the Royal Ball, and other acclaimed titles for children and adults. Her children's books are on the recommended-reading lists of school and library systems worldwide. A former reporter for Fortune magazine, she is the recipient of numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. Ms. Tarpley is the founder of Voonderbar! Productions, LLC, a multimedia children's entertainment company. She lives in Chicago, Illinois.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The dreams of children. Lovely, June 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Joe-Joe's First Flight (Hardcover)

At first glance, one would think that this book was written for young African-American readers, but that assumption would be wrong. This book illustrates to all children the importance of dreaming and reaching beyond the confines that society puts on them. What was a dream one day, becomes reality the next. On another level, this book educates people of all ages and races about a time in history. About how Black Americans not only dreamed of the future, but have achieved the future. This is a message that all Americans can take to heart. Natasha Tapley's writting and Earl Lewis's amazing pictures combine perfectly once again.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Imaginative Book on The Power of Dreams, June 13, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Joe-Joe's First Flight (Hardcover)

This book tells the story of an African American boy who dreams of flying an airplane during the age of segregation in the 1920s, when blacks were not allowed to fly. Not only does the story provide useful historical information (including an author's note about other black aviators), it also teaches kids the importance of believing in themselves and never giving up on their dreams, no matter what obstacles are put in their way. The lovely watercolor illustrations are the perfect complement to the beautiful lyrical language of the story. A must read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A warm story for kids with good picturebook reading skills, September 12, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joe-Joe's First Flight (Hardcover)

E.B. Lewis provides realistic and warm watercolors to accompany this story by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley of segregation in the 1920s. Young Joe-Joe has always wanted to fly an airplane, but his first lesson never seems to happen despite his father's work at the local airport. His determination to fly makes for a warm story for kids with good picturebook reading skills.