Ready to Fly is the true story of Sylvia Townsend, an African American girl who falls in love with ballet after seeing Swan Lake on TV.
Although there aren’t many ballet schools that will accept a girl like Sylvia in the 1950s, her local bookmobile provides another possibility. A librarian helps Sylvia find a book about ballet and the determined seven-year-old, with the help of her new books, starts teaching herself the basics of classical ballet.
Soon Sylvia learns how to fly—how to dance—and how to dare to dream.
My Review:
I received a copy of this picture book from Harper Collins in exchange for an honest.
The first time I saw the cover of this book I knew that it would be a fantastic story!
Lea Lyon and A. LaFaye wrote a moving and inspirational nonfiction biography about the early life of Sylvia Townsend. The beginning of the book has a letter from Sylvia Roberton herself expressing her hopes and dreams is a beautiful lead into the story of her childhood dreams. The text is written in a first-person narrative and allows readers to connect to Sylvia and her dreams. The story follows Sylvia as she pursues her love of ballet. She had no money for lessons but that didn’t stop her. Instead, she checked out books from the bookmobile and begins to learn ballet. Syliva faced segregation and was told that she couldn’t attend lessons. Instead of admitting defeat, Sylvia found a way to keep learning and keep performing. Her determination paid off and she became a very talented ballerina. The illustrations by Jessica Gibson are detailed and bring the story to life. I especially loved the images of Sylvia dancing. The back matter shares with readers more about the life of Sylvia as well as more information about the creation and history of bookmobiles.
This is a beautiful story that celebrates one girl’s determination to dance and the books that showed her the way.
Ages 5 and up
40 Pages
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