Ruth Law Thrills a Nation (Reading Rainbow Book) - Softcover

Brown, Don

3.92

90 ratings by Goodreads

9780395735176: Ruth Law Thrills a Nation (Reading Rainbow Book)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0395735173 ISBN 13: 9780395735176

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers, 1995

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In 1916 a young woman named Ruth Law attempted to fly from Chicago to New York City in one day--something no one else had ever done. This is the story of that daring attempt. Beautifully detailed watercolors dramatize a dangerous journey made by the pilot President Woodrow Wilson called "great." Full-color illustrations.

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About the Author:

Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of many picture book biographies. He has been widely praised for his resonant storytelling and his delicate watercolor paintings that evoke the excitement, humor, pain, and joy of lives lived with passion. School Library Journal has called him “a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies.” He lives in New York with his family.

From Publishers Weekly:

Brown soars in his children's book debut with this true story of a little-known heroine. In 1916 Ruth Law set an American record by flying cross-country nonstop for 590 miles. She had hoped to pilot her small plane all the way from Chicago to New York City in a single day (she ended up spending the night in Binghamton), but hers was nevertheless a remarkable accomplishment--the extraordinary nature of which Brown recreates for his audience with a host of riveting details. To accustom herself to the cold weather (she flew an open-cockpit plane), Law spent the night before her flight in a tent on the roof of a Chicago hotel; she wore two woolen suits and two leather suits, but "covered her bulky outfit with a skirt. In 1916, a polite lady always wore a skirt." She flew a tiny, old plane because the manufacturer refused to sell her a newer, bigger model (he "did not believe a woman could fly a large plane"); to set her course, she relied on maps she had taped together and attached to her leg; forced to land in a field, she secured her plane overnight by tying it to a tree. As the author points out, the pilot who broke Law's record a year later was also a woman. Brown's full-page, pen-and-ink and watercolor pictures feature striking amalgams of variegated blue and purple hues; like the text they convey the drama of Law's feat. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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