Tiny Jumper: How Tiny Broadwick Created the Parachute Rip Cord

by Candy Dahl, Maithili Joshi (Illustrator)

This thrilling biography tells the story of Tiny Broadwick, the first woman to ever parachute from a plane and the inventor of the parachute rip cord, and how her determination, courage, adventurousness, and joy in doing what she loved lifted her up to stand as tall as a pioneer in flight.

The crack of a pistol shattered the silence-
Tiny's signal to jump.
Her hands trembled as she cut her parachute away from the balloon.

Tiny Broadwick, a teeny, uneducated mill girl, had big dreams of soaring above the earth, out of poverty, and above expectations. She became the first woman to parachute from an airplane, and her idea for the rip cord paved the way for pilots to safely escape in-flight emergencies.

This thrilling biography shows how Tiny's determination, courage, adventurousness, and joy lifted her up to stand tall as a pioneer in flight.

Genres: Picture Books, Biography, Nonfiction, History, Adventure, Childrens

40 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 10, 2023

Reviews

[Patricia Q · Rating 4 out of 5]

And she did all that in a dress.

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiny’s story is just the kind of story that can inspire other kids. She was female, she was poor, and she was ignored because she was small for her age after being born a preemie. The odds were against her except it was those qualities that made her work harder and dream bigger than others would have expected.

Tiny never even reached five feet tall but she reached higher than any other woman had at that time, she was the first woman to jump out of an airplane. If it would have been possible at that time, she would have found a way to go to the moon as well.

“…because a tiny woman with huge courage and determination followed her dreams of rising up into the sky and changed the world of parachuting forever.”

Tiny was born in 1893 and by 1907 she saw Charles Broadwick jump from a hot air balloon while attending the State Fair. She marched right up to him wanting to jump too. Because she was so determined, he eventually trained her, adopted her, and took her with him on tour. If Tiny hadn’t been so bold and determined, she wouldn’t have made her first jump from a hot air balloon just a year later at the same State Fair.

Direct quotes from Tiny are featured on the pages in colored blocks and the illustrations tell the story as much as the words do. The end of the book features an author’s note with more details, actual photos of Tiny, and a selected bibliography if kids want to learn more about this fascinating woman in history. Her legacy allows the military to jump into enemy territory using parachutes by pulling the rip cord. Tiny is an inspiring woman in history.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Georgia Anne Williams only weighed three pounds when she was born into a very poor family. This forced her to work in factories, beginning at the age of six. As she struggled in her jobs, Tiny (her nickname since birth) dreamed of rising up and finding other work. At age fourteen, she saw the world famous aeronaut, Charles Broadwick, balance on a trapeze beneath a hot air balloon and then parachute to the ground. Tiny immediately knew this was how she could rise up. She bravely followed in Broadwick’s footsteps to become the first woman to parachute from a hot air balloon, and later to become the first woman to parachute from an airplane.

This picture book biography introduces us to another brave, but little known woman in American history, Tiny’s self confidence, determination and bravery provide an excellent role model for readers who are striving to find success.

I especially liked the quotations from Tiny on several pages which give us insight into what she was actually thinking as she accomplished her successful jumps. The author also included more detailed information about her life, including photographs from the time period in the back matter.
Many thanks to Blue Slip Media and the publishers for the review copy of this book.

[Jessica Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

As my 9-year-old moves into harder middle-grade novels, many of her favorite picture books are starting to get set aside. The exception to this is biographies. She loves them and will pick them up no matter the age range. There’s just something about a real-life story that captures a kid’s attention, and Tiny Jumper is no exception.

Tiny Broadwick’s story is one that children — especially girls — will find thrilling. Tiny’s bravery and her sheer determination are an inspiration.

In Tiny Jumper, author Candy Dahl mixes engaging narration with Tiny’s own words, further enhancing the experience. And illustrator Maithili Joshi’s dynamic illustrations bring all Tiny’s adventures to life. An author’s note at the end provides more in-depth information and includes three photographs of Tiny in her element.

Tiny Jumper is an adventurous picture book biography that’s sure to spark excite readers.

[Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiny Broadwick jumped out of hot air balloons with an open parachute starting at age 15. She later jumped out of airplanes. She invented the rip cord parachute after an accident that left her line tangle don a plane, requiring her to cut the line and then rip open the parachute as she was free falling. She made over 1,000 jumps and then had to retire because her ankles and other body parts were too battered by repeated injury.

I was happy to learn about this young woman's contribution to the development of safe parachutes for pilots. The back matter contains a robust author's note about Georgia Ann Thompson Broadwick (aka Tiny), which includes three photographs of her. This is followed by a selected bibliography of seven sources about this adventurous person.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always love a picture book biography of a cool woman I've never heard of. This book is an engaging biography of Tiny Broadwick, the first lady of parachuting, who was the first woman to parachute from an airplane and the first person to deliberately free fall from a a parachute. Her courageous stunts are captured with accessible illustrations that adds to the excitement of her story. Though there are a couple of pages of backmatter (with photographs!!!), this book only loosely serves as a biography, and focuses more on how Tiny helped create the parachute rip cord than on specific biographic details.

[Erin Buhr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Georgia Ann Thompson who was born weighing three pounds and called Tiny her whole life. Tiny rose about her tiny size, poverty, and sexism to become the first woman to parachute out of an airplane and later created the ripcord. Her accomplishments, as well as her spunk and bravery, burst from these pages. The text is engaging, informative, and well paced. I love how quotes were integrated. The illustrations are full of movement and energy that matches the subject well. An inspiring story for any time period.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

An outstanding and little-known story of a woman who,mwhile still a girl, set her sights on the skies. She was not determined to pilot a plane, but rather to take to the open skies with a thin sheet of silk between herself and death.
What an adventure, and what a risky accident it was that led her to discover and design an improvement on early parachutes.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books that introduce you to amazing people. Tiny Broadwick was tiny, but her bravery was huge. This daredevil loved to fly and was the first woman to parachute from a plane. When disaster nearly struck, she invented the rip cord. This was in the early 1900s and she jumped from hot air balloons and planes. Amazing!

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring picture book biography of a brave young woman who, in a crisis, created the rip cord. My daughter and I both enjoyed this book, though it was brief and pretty much ends with the rip cord creation. The authors note at the back included more information about Broadwick's later life, as well as photos.

[Ellon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars (I really liked it)

That was such an interesting biography! I had never heard of Tiny before, nor had I ever really wondering about the creation of the parachute rip cord, yet I was on the edge of my seat reading this picture book about Tiny and the rip cord. Highly recommended!

[Cara Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love picture book biographies about great, brave, and daring people who helped transform and advance our understanding of the world in some way. Georgia Ann Thompson - or Tiny Broadwick - is one of those people and this was a good biography of her story!

[Stephanie Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging story about a "little" girl (in both senses of the word) who made a big impact in the aviation world. Loaded with sweet details a lovely blue and red colour palette, Tiny Jumper tells the tale of a fascinating bit of forgotten history that was a pleasure to discover.

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting