My walk in the sunshine today (a Sunday) was disturbed by the sounds of things flying in the air. In just an hour I counted 5 helicopters, 4 small planes, 2 jets and a amazingly a paraplane. All of these were so noisy unlike the beautiful birds who also shared the sky.
Paraplane image source: https://www.easyflight.com/
Jess himself says:
While the story is fiction, I wanted the reader to be able to learn about amazing birds that exist in our world.
On one level, yes, this is a book about birds. Lucy finds a tiny bird - a sparrow - with a broken wing. She is determined to help him fly. We already know Lucy is good at "fixing things". She lives with her Dad. "It was just the two of them ... "
Dad explains the sparrow has a broken wing. "He won't be able to fly again."
Lucy does not agree. She is determined her little friend Flap will fly again so she draws up elaborate plans and builds an aeroplane. The pair take off into the sky and for a while they fly along happily. Flap sits safely in the back seat and it is lovely to know he can "feel the wind in his feathers again." Sadly the flight does not last long. The plane begins to disintegrate and plummet back to earth.
I'm going to pause here because at this point I would stop reading this book and allow the children to make their predictions. When I read this book at the CBCA National Conference several months ago the image on the next page made me gasp.
Image Source: https://drawthemoon.com/fly
Here are some questions you could use to explore the deeper themes in this book:
- How do we know mum is absent? What might have happened to Lucy's mum? Why didn't the author give us any specific details about this?
- What are some ways Lucy tries to help her dad? (look closely at the illustrations)
- Lucy spends one weekend and a few afternoons making her flying machine - what does this tell you? Does it matter that this is not really possible?
- The back cover says "Not everything that is broken can be fixed." What do you think the author means by this statement? How does the story demonstrate this idea.
- Talk about Flap. What do you think the words "But then he was gone" might mean?
- On the last page Jess McGeachin says "it's probably best not to build a plane unless you really know what you're doing." Do you think he really needed to include these words? Do you think they were his idea or were added by the publisher? Talk about this picture from Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten. The US publisher of this book was concerned children might climb onto roofs. What is your opinion?
I've read a few reviews of Fly and they all seem to focus on different aspects of this story. I like this because it shows this book is open to many interpretations. The suggested audience for this book generally seems to be ages 5-8 but I would suggest it will also appeal to an older primary group because it contains so many unanswered questions along side the deeper themes of grief and healing.
Take less than a minute to watch the book trailer from Penguin. It is perfect. You can also see some pages from Fly here.
Reviews:
Reading Time
The Bottom Shelf
Better Reading
Fly will surely be included in the CBCA awards for 2020 - yes it is that good! Over the coming months I hope to read a selection of Australian picture books published in 2019 with a view to making predictions about these award.
I would pair this book with How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham; Pete and Roland by Bob Graham; Kate, who tamed the Wind by Liz Garton Scanlon and Gary by Leila Rudge. I would also read one of my favourite books Herbert Binns and the Flying Tricycle although this book is sadly long out of print. You could also compare Fly with The Storm Whale by Benji Davies and A Wish for Wings that work by Berkeley Breathed.
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