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Brave Harriet: The First Woman to Fly the English Channel
On a clear morning in 1912, Harriet Quimby had a vision--she would become the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel. If she were to veer off course by even five miles, she could end up in the North Sea, never to be heard from again. But she took the risk, anyway.
Bestselling author Marissa Moss and award-winning artist C. F. Payne team up to tell this little-known historic story of a spirited woman who dared to take flight.
Bestselling author Marissa Moss and award-winning artist C. F. Payne team up to tell this little-known historic story of a spirited woman who dared to take flight.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2001
3 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
About the author
Marissa Moss
115 books263 followersMarissa Moss has written more than seventy books, from picture books to middle-grade and young adult novels. Best known for the Amelia's Notebook series, her books are popular with teachers and children alike. Her picture book Barbed Wire Baseball won the California Book Award gold medal. Moss is also the founder of Creston Books, an independent children's publishing house.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 16, 2021
Brave Harriet: The First Woman to Fly the English Channel is a children's picture book by Marissa Moss and illustrated by C.F. Payne. It chronicles the accomplishment of Harriet Quimby, who was the first American woman to earn her flying license and the first to fly over the English Channel.
Harriet Quimby was an early American aviation pioneer and a movie screenwriter. In 1911, she was awarded a U.S. pilot's certificate by the Aero Club of America, becoming the first woman to gain a pilot's license in the United States. In 1912, she became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
Moss' text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Moss weaves a rich tapestry of description for Quimby’s story, full of heightened but crystalline language describing the desire to fly, and the fulfillment of that desire. Backmatter includes an author's note. Payne's spreads resemble period photographs, stop-action shots of wood-framed airplanes taken from striking angles, a newsboy reading the headlines about the Titanic and Harriet looking wistfully across the Channel, her skirt billowing in the wind.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Harriet wins her license from a skeptical board, works as a barnstormer, and then conceives the idea of crossing the English Channel. Her pilot friend Gustav Hamel tries to dissuade her, offering to fly for her in disguise, but she refuses. She completes her mission, but the sinking of the Titanic on the same day overshadows news of her success.
All in all, Brave Harriet: The First Woman to Fly the English Channel is a wonderful book about the life and times of Harriet Quimby – the first American female pilot and the first to fly over the English Channel.
Harriet Quimby was an early American aviation pioneer and a movie screenwriter. In 1911, she was awarded a U.S. pilot's certificate by the Aero Club of America, becoming the first woman to gain a pilot's license in the United States. In 1912, she became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
Moss' text is rather simplistic, straightforward, and informative. Moss weaves a rich tapestry of description for Quimby’s story, full of heightened but crystalline language describing the desire to fly, and the fulfillment of that desire. Backmatter includes an author's note. Payne's spreads resemble period photographs, stop-action shots of wood-framed airplanes taken from striking angles, a newsboy reading the headlines about the Titanic and Harriet looking wistfully across the Channel, her skirt billowing in the wind.
The premise of the book is rather straightforward. Harriet wins her license from a skeptical board, works as a barnstormer, and then conceives the idea of crossing the English Channel. Her pilot friend Gustav Hamel tries to dissuade her, offering to fly for her in disguise, but she refuses. She completes her mission, but the sinking of the Titanic on the same day overshadows news of her success.
All in all, Brave Harriet: The First Woman to Fly the English Channel is a wonderful book about the life and times of Harriet Quimby – the first American female pilot and the first to fly over the English Channel.
March 9, 2019
We picked this book up at one of our local libraries on impulse. It was part of a display of books for Women's History Month (March). We didn't get around to reading the book until now, but I love sharing books about female aviators with our girls, since I also fly for a living.
I loved learning about a plucky, adventurous woman who is not nearly as well known as Amelia Earhart. It reminds me of books about lesser-known female aviators such as Katherine Stinson Otero: High Flyer and Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman.
The mixed media illustrations by C.F. Payne are quite good; only a few of the pages (like the cover) reminded me of his work on the back covers of the Reader's Digest.
Overall, this is an entertaining story and I love that she stood up for herself when others doubted her ability to be a pioneer in aviation.
We really enjoyed reading this book together, although I would have liked a longer Author's note with some more information about her life (or at least recommendations for other books that provide these additional details).
interesting quotes:
"I'd had my time in the clouds, my time surrounded by blue, and that was enough for me." (p. 30 - unpaged) Amen, sister!
"The Boston Post wrote of her death: 'Ambitious to be among the pathfinders, she took her chances like a man and died like one.' Her gravestone expresses that daring as well: THERE IS NO REASON TO BE AFRAID." (p. 32 - unpaged)
I loved learning about a plucky, adventurous woman who is not nearly as well known as Amelia Earhart. It reminds me of books about lesser-known female aviators such as Katherine Stinson Otero: High Flyer and Fly High!: The Story of Bessie Coleman.
The mixed media illustrations by C.F. Payne are quite good; only a few of the pages (like the cover) reminded me of his work on the back covers of the Reader's Digest.
Overall, this is an entertaining story and I love that she stood up for herself when others doubted her ability to be a pioneer in aviation.
We really enjoyed reading this book together, although I would have liked a longer Author's note with some more information about her life (or at least recommendations for other books that provide these additional details).
interesting quotes:
"I'd had my time in the clouds, my time surrounded by blue, and that was enough for me." (p. 30 - unpaged) Amen, sister!
"The Boston Post wrote of her death: 'Ambitious to be among the pathfinders, she took her chances like a man and died like one.' Her gravestone expresses that daring as well: THERE IS NO REASON TO BE AFRAID." (p. 32 - unpaged)
February 21, 2016
This was another great book on Harriet Quimby, though this one is far more concentrated on the crossing of the English Channel. You might compare it with Robert Burleigh's Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic concerning Amelia Earhart Atlantic crossing or Flight concerning Charles Lindbergh's Atlantic crossing or Don Brown's Ruth Law Thrills a Nation concerning that aviator's travels from Chicago to New York. They are all excellent stories. I really liked the illustrations in this one. Since there are so many books about famous aviators, this might lend well to a unit on the topic.
May 9, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed this! It's one of my favorite picture book biographies about aviators because I feel Harriet's personality shines through the pages and you really feel caught up in the action and emotion of the big event. (I'm not usually a fan of first person narrative for historical biographies, but I feel it works in this case.) The illustrations pair beautifully with the text, giving a sense of time and place and some really great views of the plane (which my sons especially appreciated). Bonus points for including a wonderful photograph of Harriet hoisted on the shoulders of cheering spectators on the beach that remarkable morning. And the fine Author's Note that explains more of her story. I do wish the book had included more specifics as to timeline. For those who are curious, Harriet was born in 1875 so she was 37 (and already a successful newspaper writer) when she became the first woman pilot to fly across the English Channel on April 16th, 1912. The history buffs among you may already realize that it was not Harriet's story that made front page news at that time, however, for the Titanic sank on April 15th and that is what the newspapers covered. Harriet's triumph was largely neglected. The story ends with her saying that it didn't matter, because she knew she had done it, she had had the experience, and that is what matters. I'm not sure if that is the case or if it's was author's liberties, but I hope it's true. I'm glad history remembers her now, but it's also important for kids to know that not everyone famous does things for fame -- that sometimes it's enough just to have done it. Note that sensitive young readers may prefer not reading beyond the story proper as the Author's Note does mention that, as was the case with many of these early aviators, Harriet died doing what she loved -- flying. (Just a few short months after her history-making flight across the Channel.) The Boston Post wrote of her death, "Ambitious to be among the pathfinders, she took her chances like a man and died like one." Unfortunately, the author doesn't cite any sources so I can't give this five stars, even though I found it captivating and it is one of the more memorable picture book biographies I've read in awhile.
December 2, 2018
Book level: 3.6
Lexile: 810
Fountas & Pinnell: P
Book summary: A decade before Amelia Earhart, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. This book is the story of her journey from school teacher to first woman to cross the sea flying from England to France in 1912.
Genre: Biography. Although this book documents only a small portion of Harriet's life (her acquiring a flying license, being a pilot, and flying across the English channel), it includes factual and accurate information about her life during that time period.
Mentor writing trait:
Word Choice. The author's words paint a picture in the reader's mind and she is very intentional in the words she uses, especially the adjectives she uses to describe things. The author describes Harriet's plane as flimsy, spindly, and a rat trap which gives you a certain impression of what that plane looked like and probably flew like. She also describes the mist that Harriet flies through as cold, wet whiteness and beastly cold. Reading those descriptions just made me shiver and think about how miserable that would be to fly through.
Classroom integration/minilessons:
Read this book as a mentor text in word choice- concentrate on the adjectives she uses. Write down some of their favorite adjectives to use as examples when they write. Take a nature walk outside the classroom, have students bring their writing notebooks with them and a pencil. Have students write down notes during this walk asking them to describe what they see, feel, smell, etc. Once back inside the classroom, have the kids write a small narrative about their favorite part of the nature walk, challenge them to use more visual adjectives like the author Marissa did in this book.
Lexile: 810
Fountas & Pinnell: P
Book summary: A decade before Amelia Earhart, Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. This book is the story of her journey from school teacher to first woman to cross the sea flying from England to France in 1912.
Genre: Biography. Although this book documents only a small portion of Harriet's life (her acquiring a flying license, being a pilot, and flying across the English channel), it includes factual and accurate information about her life during that time period.
Mentor writing trait:
Word Choice. The author's words paint a picture in the reader's mind and she is very intentional in the words she uses, especially the adjectives she uses to describe things. The author describes Harriet's plane as flimsy, spindly, and a rat trap which gives you a certain impression of what that plane looked like and probably flew like. She also describes the mist that Harriet flies through as cold, wet whiteness and beastly cold. Reading those descriptions just made me shiver and think about how miserable that would be to fly through.
Classroom integration/minilessons:
Read this book as a mentor text in word choice- concentrate on the adjectives she uses. Write down some of their favorite adjectives to use as examples when they write. Take a nature walk outside the classroom, have students bring their writing notebooks with them and a pencil. Have students write down notes during this walk asking them to describe what they see, feel, smell, etc. Once back inside the classroom, have the kids write a small narrative about their favorite part of the nature walk, challenge them to use more visual adjectives like the author Marissa did in this book.
May 29, 2017
Harriet Quimby is a heroine that I'd love for children to hear more about. First woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States, and the first woman to fly across the English Channel. In the days before radios or sophisticated navigational equipment, and at a time when women were thought to be unable to complete such a feat. Harriet would have been the one to break those barriers - she seems to have been incapable of taking "no" for an answer.
In this beautifully illustrated story, we read (and see) Harriet falling in love with flight, and facing opposition to her intention to fly the Channel. This would be a good book to read with your small child, and then for that child to read on their own as their skills mature. The story is written in an accessible, but not simplistic, style and the illustrations, especially of Harriet's plane, are evocative. There is a photograph at the end so that readers can see what Harriet looked like at the time.
In this beautifully illustrated story, we read (and see) Harriet falling in love with flight, and facing opposition to her intention to fly the Channel. This would be a good book to read with your small child, and then for that child to read on their own as their skills mature. The story is written in an accessible, but not simplistic, style and the illustrations, especially of Harriet's plane, are evocative. There is a photograph at the end so that readers can see what Harriet looked like at the time.
January 23, 2021
Brave Harriet is a great story to read to talk about the struggles and triumphs that woman had to go through to do things men thought we couldn't. Harriet Quimby was an American woman who became the first to receive a pilots license. She performed many dare devil stunts and eventually wanted to take the next step in her flying and be the first woman to cross the English Chanel. During this time she over came many odds but was coincided with another major event that happened that day and her story was never told.
What a wonderful book to teach about change and rights during a time where so much was happening in the world. I have read this book and many other books similar during Martin Luthern King Jr. week to teach about accepting people for who they are and how change is a great thing to over come. We also use these books and lessons to showcase how history is something to learn from to create a better future.
What a wonderful book to teach about change and rights during a time where so much was happening in the world. I have read this book and many other books similar during Martin Luthern King Jr. week to teach about accepting people for who they are and how change is a great thing to over come. We also use these books and lessons to showcase how history is something to learn from to create a better future.
January 20, 2019
Brave Harriet is an interesting biography. It has more text than more recent picture book biographies since it was first published in 2001. Although it is an adult Harriet who narrates her adventures, she does so in a youthful voice and provides details that will be of interest to the reader.
I enjoyed this book.
I enjoyed this book.
March 19, 2021
This picture book biography is an inspiring story of determination. While it may be a bit wordy for some children, the tale kept my daughters interest. The pictures are dark, but overall tell the story well.
October 3, 2017
A good story, the writing nothing spectacular.
March 9, 2018
This biography made me giggle. Definitely entertaining, even if it is a little thin.
November 16, 2022
Love the illustrations and it's a good story, as well.
April 18, 2021
Genre: Biography
Age Range: Middle Grade
This book is about the First women to fly the English channel. First off I love this book and story because it shows girls that they can anything they want to be. People told Harriet that she should not try to be a pilot and that it wouldn't work. I believe this will show girls that if they put their minds to it, they will achieve anything. The pictures were beautiful and minimalistic that was just right for this story.
Age Range: Middle Grade
This book is about the First women to fly the English channel. First off I love this book and story because it shows girls that they can anything they want to be. People told Harriet that she should not try to be a pilot and that it wouldn't work. I believe this will show girls that if they put their minds to it, they will achieve anything. The pictures were beautiful and minimalistic that was just right for this story.
October 5, 2012
I love many of Marissa Moss's biographies about strong women. Her biographies are well written, inform and engage the reader. Moss often researches and uncovers interesting facts or little known details of amazing women from history. I love the author's notes that she often includes. This is a particular favorite w/ students 5thg and up b/c of the historical relevance of Harriet's first across the English Channel. Little know of Harriet's accomplishments, due to the fact that her news was overshadowed by the sinking of the Titanic.
Great to use in a text set about amazing women.
I also look forward to pairing this book with Daredevil, an upcoming title about another lesser known female aviator, Betty Skelton.
Great to use in a text set about amazing women.
I also look forward to pairing this book with Daredevil, an upcoming title about another lesser known female aviator, Betty Skelton.
April 8, 2011
Harriet isn't going to allow others to stand in the way of her fulfilling her dreams. Despite the fact that women don't fly planes and no one believes she can do it, she is going to fly the English Channel. A story of a woman who demonstrates not only bravery but also integrity as she breaks down sexist barriers. During a time when women were seen as fragile and weaker than men, Harriet overcomes many social obstacles to achieve her goals. This book could be added to a set on women, women's rights, and civil rights.
April 13, 2012
This is a wonderful non-fiction book that should be added to the elementary school read aloud collection! The story of Harriet was unknown to me, but was immediately intriguing and fun to read! Not only will the students be able to read about a real event, but they will also have opportunities to process through dreams, occupations, and adventure.
January 31, 2013
I loved this book as told by Harriet Quimby, the first woman to fly across the English Channel. She is the narrator of the story, and upon reading her amazing historical tale I wondered why I had not heard of here before. Well, her feat coincided with another huge historical moment in history, but I'm not going to tell you. You'll have to find out for yourself. :)
January 22, 2012
I like this book because it was true, and showed how determined this woman was.
March 30, 2012
There's a woman who wants a place in the sky. B
August 5, 2012
Wow! Neat story!
Making Meaning Grade 3 Resource Kit
Making Meaning Grade 3 Resource Kit
March 15, 2016
First woman to fly the English Channel.
Read
December 4, 2016Brave Harriet is a great book to have because it is very informational and also has great illustrations such as that of a picture book. Highly recommend for classrooms.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews