The Fifteenth Pelican

by Tere Ríos, Arthur King (Illustrator)

Basis for the TV show, THE FLYING NUN.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy

125 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

Reviews

[Ann Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basis for the TV show The Flying Nun.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Link+ due May 5, 2012

At the back of the book there's an article from 1964 about the change to the habits the Sisters of Charity wear.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you liked the TV series The Flying Nun, you'll love this charmingly told story in book form.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is dated in regard to gender roles, but otherwise it's good-hearted, with fine observations of nature and interesting details about San Juan, Puerto Rico where the story is set.
The idea of a flying nun is original (as far as I know), and I can see why 1960s TV executives would find the idea appealing. They added the wealthy playboy character and downplayed the teaching aspect, but otherwise much of the premise is true to the book (they also left out the pelicans).

[BBoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually a very charming, entertaining, and heart-felt short novel. The plot is basically the pilot of The Flying Nun, but is less funny (although the writing is certainly humorous), and much more emotion-laden. Would absolutely recommend reading it on the Wayback Machine, since a physical copy would be way too expensive to get now.

[Dave Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, short little book that was the basis for the Flying Nun. It has Sister Bertille and Sister Sixto and Convent San Tanco but that is all. A nice story.

[Meg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found this at a garage sale for 25¢. Not a bad read, but I feel I need to check out the TV show now

[Doug Piero]

This light hearted short novel is fun to read. It is the original work that became The Flying Nun on TV. It all takes place in Puerto Rico, where a very small nun with a very large cornette can fly in the gusty winds. Hangglide really. I suppose this book has some problems with the politically alert, it has a schmear of US mainland superiority that rings false today. Because it is satirical and tongue in cheek I think more of Catch 22 or Vonnegut than I do of white savior. You know, a remake of this with a Puerto Rican small nun and real world San Juan P.R. would make a great TV show again.

[Katie]

Sweet book and lovely illustrations by Arthur King.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the book that the TV show Flying Nun was taken from. Thought is would be good as I loved the show. Very disappointed.

[bup · Rating 2 out of 5]

I noticed this book in the closing credits of The Flying Nun a couple of months ago (it was a really boring Sunday). The title, and the knowledge that it inspired The Flying Nun inspired me - why would it be called The Fifteenth Pelican? Maybe there's something interesting in this book!

Nope.

It's like Flying Nun fan fiction - really amateurish, and not funny at all although it thinks it is. Not a whole lot happens. The high points of the book are the passages where Sister Bertrille actually flies with a formation of pelicans who accept her - but for some reason not adequately explained, everyone thinks it's a terrible thing. There's a ZANY! excruciatingly unfunny predicament when she lands in a restricted military base - the author couldn't think of any funny lines for anybody, though.

At least it's short.

[Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet little book. I read it more out of curiosity for an author who shared my namesake then the old television series. Strange that Ms. Tere Rios did not write more books (that I am aware of). An easy read.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little fiction book about a nun who discovers she can fly. This is the book that the tv-series The Flying Nun was based on.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Book that the flying nun came from.

[Trever Polak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, short bed read. That's really all I can say. It's very simple but it's not poorly written, so if a cute book is what you want try this one out.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The literary basis of The Flying Nun. Cute simple story.

[Micki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - however, I freely admit that this is not the edition that I read. It seems to happen to me quite frequently lately that Goodreads doesn't list the edition that I am reading - with this book even the NAME was changed. Since my time online is sooo limited I didn't pursue how to list this book as an edition with the title being so different. My book is titled "The Flying Nun" and anyone that lived through the 1960s in the U.S. will probably recognize that title as belonging to a TV show starring Sally Fields. It brought me back to my childhood and I smiled my way through the book. This is definitely the book the TV series was based on and really gives the reader the back story on why this little petite nun could "fly".

I wish there were more of these types of sweet simple stories written now-a-days.