The Year We Learned to Fly (Picture Book)

 

Publication date: January 4, 2022

My Thoughts:

I woke up at 3:30 this morning to participate in the School Library Journal's Day of Dialog virtual event #SLJDOD and was able to read this sampler courtesy of Penguin Young Readers.

First, the text is by Jacqueline Woodson who is a beloved middle grades author whose prose is lyrical, her wordplay - hip hop. There is one phrase I love, love, love, extra love.

leaving all of our mad far behind us.

Second, the illustrations by Rafael López are bright and beautiful. His use of white space and juxtaposition and symbolism tell stories just as much as the text. 

Pre-order this book and then figure out how to use it. 

From the Publisher:

On a dreary, stuck-inside kind of day, a brother and sister heed their grandmother’s advice: “Use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours. Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing. Somebody somewhere at some point was just as bored you are now.” And before they know it, their imaginations lift them up and out of their boredom. Then, on a day full of quarrels, it’s time for a trip outside their minds again, and they are able to leave their anger behind. This precious skill, their grandmother tells them, harkens back to the days long before they were born, when their ancestors showed the world the strength and resilience of their beautiful and brilliant minds. Jacqueline Woodson’s lyrical text and Rafael Lopez’s dazzling art celebrate the extraordinary ability to lift ourselves up and imagine a better world