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Learning from those who came before

Cover of The Year We Learned to Fly
A review of The Year We Learned to Fly by Jacqueline Woodson Illustrated by Rafael López

From the Jacqueline Woodson and Rafael López, creators of The Day You Begin, comes a new story about using your imagination to soar. Stuck inside on a rainy day, two siblings are told by their grandmother to use their minds, to "close your eyes and take a deep breath, and believe in a thing." No longer stuck in their apartment, they soar over the city, each season escaping from their boredom, their arguments, and their loneliness, just as their ancestors who also flew with their beautiful and brilliant minds. 

In the winter when they move to a new and strange neighborhood, they lift their arms and soar again, and soon they are joined by other kids in their neighborhood, making new friends.

Rafael López's illustrations are as beautiful as always, and Jacqueline Woodson ends with an authors note about how she learned to fly the first time she read The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton. 

Also available in Spanish. 

Feb 15, 2023