Wings

Ikarus Jackson, a new boy on the block, surprises his neighbors one day by flying above the rooftops with his "long, strong, proud wings." People start to whisper, though, and soon those whispers turn to taunts, disdain, and finally even dismissal from school. One quiet girl, someone who knows loneliness herself, doesn't think the winged boy is strange. She runs through the streets, searching the clouds for her exiled schoolmate, only to find a policeman yelling at him to get down from the edge of a building where he perched with the pigeons: "Could the policeman / put him in jail for flying, / for being too different?" She musters her strength to tell the laughing onlookers to leave him alone, and she tells her new friend "what someone show more should have long ago"--that his flying is beautiful.
Christopher Myers, who illustrated the Coretta Scott King Honor Book Black Cat and the Caldecott Honor Book Harlem shines in this simple, lovely tribute to individualism, encouraging his young readers to dare to fly too close to the sun despite the warnings of the mythological Icarus. "Ikarus Jackson can fly through the air; I want kids to find their own set of wings and soar with him," says Myers. His masterful cut-paper collages capture the odd, crazy beauty of Ikarus's big white wings and the dizzying perspectives of a boy who is flying over rooftops. Urban landscapes are represented by cut photos of fencing, brownstones, and photo-booth portraits, while the sky in one spread is a sea of fuschia roses. Wings is a wonderfully expressive pairing of story and illustration. (Ages 6 and older) --Karin Snelson show less

I think Wings by Christopher Myers is a very powerful book and I like many things about it. First, I think that the illustrations make a great contribution to the story. The main character Icarus is drawn with more detail and beautiful set of Wings while the other characters are just represented by solid colored shadows. I think this really emphasizes how different Icarus is from his peers and the rest of the towns people. Also, because the wings are his unique trait the author gives readers the opportunity to substitute that with whatever makes them different and allows them to connect more to the story. I also like it because the plot is very relatable. Many children may find themselves in similar situations to either Icarus or the show more girl in the story who stands up for him. Bullying is a common thing and many people either get bullied or watch it happen. By reading this story children may realize it is okay to stand up for what they believe in. I think the central message of the story is that it is important to speak up and that it only takes one person to stand up to a bully. It also shows children that they should be proud to be different. show less

This was one of my favorite books that I have ever read. This book had several different, powerful, messages one was that bullying is wrong and that just because someone is different it doesn’t mean that you should exclude him or her. Another was that sometimes it takes just one person to approach someone and become their friend to change someone’s day. While the bullying message is in a lot of children’s literature, the way in which the message was present was very unique. The main character in the story had wings; those were what made him different. I really loved that the author did this because the thing that made him different was so abstract the reader was still able to identify with him. Another character who was easy to show more identify with was the young girl who ended up befriending the main character. Both character personalities were left very ambiguous which allowed for the reader to see themselves in both of their shoes. I believe that this allowed the book to have a great impact on the reader and allowed the reader to develop a deep connection to the story.
I also really liked that the illustrations were so abstract. I think that it fit because the author was telling you the boy had wings, so the abstract illustrations matched the abstract concept. This allowed the story to feel like one cohesive things. In some picture the boy with wings was much larger than the other characters. In other points in the story some characters didn’t have a face. These abstract things fit so well with the theme of the book and gave it a cohesive feel. show less

"Wings" by Charles Myers is a multicultural, interesting story that could take many different interpretations.
I enjoyed this book because of the wings. I really liked the choice Myers made in what difference Icarus would have that made him unique compared to the other children. Instead of choosing a skin color, religion, or other trait that is typically different, he chose a fantastical trait. The decision for Icarus to have wings strengthened this book by widening its reader appeal. Many types of people could make connections to this story. I personally connected with Icarus and felt that his wings were like my own insecurities. If he had been different because of a specific skin color that didn't match my own exactly, I wouldn't have show more connected with this book at all. Myers made a smart, conscious choice to have Icarus's flaw be wings.

Another reason I liked this book was that it featured one little girl who stood up against the others in a bullying situation. It is very hard to go against the group and not give in to peer pressure, but one girl was able to do so and benefited greatly in the end. I enjoyed reading this book because despite all the criticism, there was still a brave soul to stand up and be a friend.

The main message of this book is tolerance and acceptance for others. People are different for all kinds of reasons, with no one person being the same as someone else. It is important to celebrate these differences instead of punish those who are not the same. show less

"Wings" by Christopher Myers is about a boy who moves to town and is made fun of because of his large wings. A young girl takes fascination with the "fly boy" and helps him when he is in trouble with the police. The young girl and fly boy become friends. The book would be good to share with young children to teach them lessons about appreciating diversity. The book is beautifully illustrated with different pictures cut out and collaged into city scenes.

Trying to get more books with protagonists who are people of color in front of my budding ethnocentrists, and I like this one. My son the art critic did not appreciate the collage art - though I did.

Christopher Myers' Wings is the story of a boy named Ikarus, the fly boy. Ikarus has wings, and therefore, doesn't fit in. As a result, he is mocked and scorned by his peers, his teachers, and his community. The narrator of the story sees Ikarus' loneliness and makes a choice to stand up for him, telling the other kids to leave poor Ikarus alone and sharing how she sees the beauty in Ikarus' differences. This interaction allows Ikarus to fly, once again.

As always, Christopher Myers' illustrations command attention. He makes use of collage, pairing colorful cutouts with photography, adding new layers of meaning to each image. Myers' art is hip, appealing to a youthful audience. Although known for his art, his writing is not unlike that show more of his father, Walter Dean Myers. Like his father, Christopher Myers addresses difficult issues that students face in their day-to-day lives. Through Wings, Myers encourages the reader to think about the way we treat people, recognizing that discrimination can cause a person to "lose their ability to fly." Wings also celebrates the power we, as individuals have, to do the right thing.

Unfortunately, students continue to be bullied in our schools. Wings is a book that can be used in both elementary and secondary schools to begin a conversation about the dangers of discrimination. This book can help a teacher begin to create a classroom community that sees differences as strengths, rather than as deficits. For this reason, I think that Wings could be used with pre-service teachers, as well, encouraging them to look closely at the student-teacher interactions that are seen in Myers' story in an attempt to re-write them, creating an environment in which Ikarus can thrive, rather than lose his desire to soar. Wings can also be used in a secondary classroom to introduce allusion. show less