Customer Reviews

You Can't Do That, Amelia!

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Most children leave elementary school with a good working knowledge of Amelia Earhart's famous accomplishment as the first woman pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and of her tragic disappearance while flying over the Pacific. Fewer kids may know about Ms. Earhart's escapades in engineering as a youth, her work as a women's rights advocate, and her efforts to support other professional women pilots. These important features of Amelia Earhart's life come through loud and clear in You Can't Do That, Amelia!

This well-researched book helps children get a better sense of young Amelia Earhart's flair for innovation and her entrepreneurial zeal. The vivid illustrations and clear text do a good job communicating Amelia's uncanny ability to defy people's low expectations of women's ability to succeed in the male-dominated profession of flying. Investing in human resources, overcoming discrimination, and pursuing innovative ideas are all powerful lessons in economics. Weaving these lessons into an entertaining story about a popular heroine gives this book its strong appeal.

Throughout her life, Amelia Earhart was often told, "you can't do that!" This accessible picture book uses this refrain to highlight Earhart's persistence, creativity, and courage. As a child, she built a kind of "roller coaster" in her yard. As a young woman she worked as a nurse and thought about enrolling in medical school, but airplanes and flying fascinated her. Despite the doubts of others around her, she took flying lessons, bought her own airplanes, started an organization for women pilots, and set records for height and distance. Earhart's compassion is also emphasized: she stops to help a fellow pilot during an air race.

The book ends with Earhart's successful transatlantic flight, and does not cover her fatal attempt to fly around the world This allows the book to end on a positive note for young readers (ages 5 and up, I would say). However, the appendix includes a complete biography and timeline of her life.

I've included this book in my online Gender Equality Bookstore.