11. Who Was Amelia Earhart?

Who Was Amelia Earhart? by Kate Boehm Jerome. Illustrated by David Cain. (Canada) - (US)
Who was ...? series

Pages: 106
Ages: 8+
Finished: Jan. 12, 2011
First Published: 2002
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Genre: children, biography
Rating: 3/5


First sentence:

Amelia Earhart was a pioneer.

Acquired: Bookmooched.

Reason for Reading: Read aloud to ds as part of our history curriculum.

This is a basic biography of Amelia Earhart focusing on her accomplishments though it does tell her life story from her childhood onwards. The brief opening chapter explains how Amelia's name is nowadays associated with her disappearance and death, but that this book is not about her end but about her life. It gives a good look at Earhart's progress to becoming a pilot and her motivation to setting records, as well as exploring her impact on women of the time. An interesting aspect that I enjoyed was that within each chapter there is a time-out page which will give a brief explanation of a topic that has come up in the text, such as World's Fairs, the Wright brothers, Lindbergh, the depression, etc. One must just stop reading the story and take time-out to read them but they do add another dimension to the book that I enjoyed, especially seeing as the story was not particularly gripping. It does its job well, is a pleasant enough read but there is no connection for the reader with Amelia and no attempt made to make one. The illustrations, which are profuse with one on every single page, are not highly attractive, faces are usually at such a distance that a few lines will suffice for facial details and they are filled with cross-hatching and lines to fill in spaces.

My son listened contentedly to the story, asked questions and was interested. But after seeing the first few illustrations had no desire to sit beside me and look at the pictures. There may be better books on the topic but if this is the one you read it will be enjoyable.