Talkin' about Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman

This Coretta Scott King award-winning book tells the story of Elizabeth Coleman who lived in the south during the Jim Crow laws when blacks were treated terribly, including severe discrimination, and had very little, if any rights.

Bessie overcame a lot through sheer determination, intelligence and a few people who helped her along the way. The very first black American woman to attend aviation school in France. Learning that language, and complex mathematics to help her know the way in which the wind carried a plane, the volume and depth of the craft and how to take off and land.

As the first African-American female pilot she overcame poverty, racism and gender discrimination -- quite a lot to handle for one spunky, dedicated woman.

She show more had pitfalls along the way and a crash that landed her in the hospital for three months. Not many of us can go beyond limitations and accomplish our dreams. Bessie was one such woman!

Four Stars show less

Bessie Coleman. Bessie Coleman. Well, Bessie Coleman, the "Queen of the Air", was the first African-American to obtain a pilot's license, and the first American of any race or gender to get an international pilot's license. (This was necessary because black aviators wouldn't teach a woman, and white flight schools wouldn't take a black student, so what was she to do but go overseas?) And she did it a few years before Earheart as well.

I had picked up another book about her, Nobody Owns the Sky, but that book was so abysmally bad that I gave it away as soon as I could. It's told in a trite, cloying rhyme. Ugh. So I thought I'd try this book instead.

This book is very well-written. You can really get a feel for Bessie's personality, and show more she's not portrayed as a saintly individual we should all admire because she did everything right. No, she fought to earn every penny as a child picking cotton (even resorting to tampering with the scale if she could get away with it), and she ran away from hard drudgery as fast and as soon as she could, becoming a pilot in part to avoid having to spend any more of her life doing other people's laundry or buffing their nails. She worked hard only as much as she needed to, and not as a goal in and of itself. (And it's just as well. If she'd applied herself to picking cotton or doing laundry instead of learning to fly to get away from that life, well, we would have no book to read.)

The story isn't told straight-out, but through the fictionalized reminiscences of people who might have gathered to talk about her. As such, many of the memories are told in non-standard dialect. I don't know how accurate this dialect is. The author is clear at the front of the book that this story is not made of quotations or interviews, it's just a convenient and inviting way to share her information that she got through research.

The one thing I'm annoyed about with this book is that it's absolutely not suited for any form of read-aloud at all, and I'm still doing that with my nieces. It's too long. However, I expected that when I bought it. show less

Readers gain insight into the life and personality of Elizabeth Coleman, the first African-American female pilot. Coleman works to overcome poverty, racism, and sexism to achieve her dream of flying. The story is told in a unique format, as if it is a series of eulogies given at Coleman's memorial service from those who knew her. Although she dies before achieving her goal of founding an aviation school that would allow others like her to learn to fly, Elizabeth Coleman accomplished the astounding feat of getting her pilot's license and performing aerobatics as an African-American woman and is someone who maintained an unshakeable amount of faith and determination during her lifetime.

The inspirational story of Bessie Coleman, the first African-American / Native American to earn her pilot’s license. Bessie, who was eleven when the Wright Brothers made their first flight, went to France to earn her pilot’s license and played a pioneering role for early pilots, inspiring both African-American and Native American peoples.

Innovatively told through a series of monologues, each accompanied by a full-page illustration, the book provides background on Bessie, recounts her accomplishments, and provides Internet resources for further information.

Recommended.

My chosen science biography is titled “Talkin’ About Bessie.” Written by Nikki Grimes and illustrated by E.B Lewis. The book caught my eyes because it was a biography of someone who I knew nothing about. I found it hard to believe that this book was related to science, but the lady in the curriculum lab explained to me that it takes engineering to build a plane, and it takes science to fly a plane, and flying a place was exactly what Bessie Coleman did. The book talks about the childhood of Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman and how she became the greatest dare devil lady pilot in the history of flying.
The author of the book Nikki Grimes doesn’t just want the reader to capture the idea and the fact that Bessie was one of the show more greatest pilots of all time but she wants you to realize that this young lady fought for her life everyday during the segregation. Not only did she survive the race wars and the violence but she set out to achieve her dream and to impress the world. The author wants to leave the reader with the fact that Bessie Coleman wasn’t just a damn good pilot, but yet she was the best lady, and African American pilot, the only lady and African American pilot in the air during these times.
I enjoyed the book although I believe for my elementary classroom it might possibly be too much literature. The pictures and illustrations in the book are great yet I wish there were more actual facts in the story about the life of Bessie Coleman. The author does a good job detailing the struggles this young lady had to go through to become exactly who she wanted to be. I believe my 5th grade class would be motivated by her story especially the young ladies. show less

The longer text makes this best for upper elementary, but I like that it celebrated her resilience throughout her life, not just in the cockpit.

A story about Bessie Coleman told through the eyes of friends and family each page having a different narrator. This story has great details about Bessie's life and is told in such an interesting way by incorporating all the different points of views of her friends and family. This was a great read with a lot of information and the illustrations are really beautiful. I would recommend this book for 1st grade and up.