The Year We Learned to Fly
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrator: Rafael López
4 January 2022
Nancy Paulsen Books
32 pages
Book description from Goodreads: “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, hearkens 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 López’s dazzling art celebrate the extraordinary ability to lift ourselves up and imagine a better world.”
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Educational Activities inspired by Jacqueline Woodson’s The Year We Learned to Fly:
- Before Reading–From looking at the front and back cover:
- Where and when do you think this story takes place?
- What do you think this story will be about?
- What emotion is the child on the cover feeling?
- Why do you think there are butterflies on the back cover?
- After Reading–Now that you’ve read the story:
- Have you ever been as bored as the kids were at the start of the story?
- How did it feel?
- What did YOU do about it?
- Why weren’t the kids stuck in the apartment anymore once they closed their eyes?
- How did you react to the kids fighting, frowning, and promising never to speak to each other again?
- What is grandmother talking about when she says “cuffed in iron”?
- Why does learning to fly come to mean here?
- How did these two teach other kids to fly?
- Have you ever been as bored as the kids were at the start of the story?
- History–Grandmother mentions the perseverance of “the people who came before,” meaning Africans who were enslaved and brought to America. Here’s a short classroom-friendly video to provide some context.
- Imagining–Since the kids in this book learned to use their imagination, use YOUR imagination to fill in the blanks here:
- A question I’d like to ask the illustrator is________________.
- If I were a character in this book, I’d be_________________.
- If this book had a sequel, I’d expect to see ________________.
- Crafting–Since The Year We Learned to Fly is about kids who overcome boredom with creativity and imagination, let’s try some fun creative crafts to engage your creativity and imagination! Get an adult to help, just to be on the safe side:
- Cereal Box Aquarium–Make sure an adult helps cut the box!
- Handprint Jellyfish Art–Handprint art is as much fun today as it was when I was a kid!
- Painting with Broccoli–Eat some because it’s good for you. But then use the rest to paint, of course!
- Paper Cone Monster–Silly and fun.
- Toilet Paper Roll Flowers–Bring, colorful, and easy to make.
- Further Reading–Enjoy more picture books about the power of the imagination. Which of these have you already read? Which do you want to read first? (Click on any book cover for more information on these titles!)
