Joe-Joe's
First Flight: Your Child's Imagination will Soar!
Author Natasha Anastasia Tarpley has written several
books for children that engage imagination and teach
history. I recently had the pleasure of meeting Tarpley
at the Midwest Literary Festival in Aurora, Illinois.
When we arrived, Tarpley was beginning to discuss her
recently published book, Joe-Joe’s
First Flight (Knopf, 2003), with a group
of children and parents. Because our 3-year-old son,
Isaiah, loves airplanes and is fascinated by the moon
and stars, we knew he would enjoy the presentation.
Joe-Joe’s
First Flight is a magical tale set in the
1920s when flight was in its infancy and segregation
was the norm. Joe-Joe's father works at the airport
in the small fictional town of Blind Eye. But like the
other African American workers, he has not been allowed
to fly planes. Each time Joe-Joe’s father inquires
about flying, he is told that he will fly in "due
time." Joe-Joe was impatient: "Seems like
the time is never due." The entire town
of Blind Eye also waits and waits, but becomes discouraged.
The town's hopelessness causes a cloud to form over
the town so thick that "even the moonlight and
stars can't get through," leaving Blind Eye almost
completely dark at night. Joe-Joe dreams of flying an
airplane to the moon and bringing it back to Blind Eye.
One evening he goes to the airport, hops in a plane
and sets out to talk the moon into coming back to Blind
Eye.
At
this point in her presentation, Tarpley asks for participation
from her captivated young audience: “Let’s
ask the moon to return to Blind Eye. On the count of
3 say, ‘moon.’” I turned to Isaiah
and told him to say, “moon!” He looked around
eagerly and yelled, “Moon!” along with the
rest of the children. He then looked at me and smiled
brightly.
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