Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton (with audio recording) | TheBookSeekers

Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton (with audio recording)


School year: Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6, Year 7

No. of pages 48

Published: 2013

Great for age 5-12 years

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A riveting picture book biography of Betty Skelton, aviation and auto racing pioneer, from award-winning author/illustrator Megan McCarthy. Includes audio!In the 1930s most girls were happy playing with dolls. But one girl, Betty Skelton, liked playing with airplanes, watching them fly around outside, and even flying airplanes herself! She lived for an adventurein the air, the water, and on landand nothing could stop her, especially not being a girl. When Betty Skelton was young there werent many women flying airplanes or racing cars, but she wouldnt let that stop her. She was always ready to take on a challenge, and she loved to have fun. Beetty rode motorcycles, raced cars, jumped out of planes, and flew jets, helicoptors, gliders, and blimps. And by the time she was an adult, Betty was known in the press as the First Lady of Firsts! This vibrantly illustrated picture book biography with audio reveals the exciting life of a brave pioneer who followed her dreams and showed the world that women can do anything!

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book is aimed at children in preschool-3rd grade.

This book has been graded for interest at 4-8 years.

There are 48 pages in this book. This book was published in 2013 by Simon & Schuster .

MEGHAN McCARTHY has written and illustrated several other bright, bold, and funny books for children, including Show Dog, an IRA-CBC Children's Choice, and The Adventures of Patty and the Big Red Bus. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

 

This book has been nominated for the following awards:

Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award - Grades K-3
This book was recognised in the Grades K-3 category by the Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award.

Garden State Award - Nonfiction
This book was recognised in the Nonfiction category by the Garden State Award.

Young Hoosier Book Award - Intermediate
This book was recognised in the Intermediate category by the Young Hoosier Book Award.

This book features the following character:

Betty Skelton
This book features the character Betty Skelton.

DAREDEVIL, * starred review

 

 

Ever hear of Betty Skelton? Most people haven't, yet this woman was a whirling daredevil who liked to go fast and broke records in aviation and auto racing.

 

In the 1930s, most girls played with dolls, but not Betty: She was obsessed with airplanes, and at age 16, she soloed. She wanted to be a commercial pilot and fly in the Navy, but she was laughed at. So she became a stunt pilot with her dog, Little Tinker, by her side and no shoes on her feet. In 1951 she broke an altitude record. Then she traded planes for race cars and drove into a new career, breaking the women's record at the Bonneville Salt Flats with a speed of 315.74 mph. those challenges weren't enough for Betty, and she went on to driving a stunt boat. What was next? She trained to be an astronaut, but NASA wasn't ready to send a female into space. Even so, Betty had "proven that women could do it as well as men." The acrylic cartoon illustrations play up Betty's spunk and derring-do with McCarthy's trademark googly eyed expressions. Her achievements are stated in the straightforward narrative, but the author allows readers to tap into her personality through use of quotes: When Betty flew higher than Mount Everest, she said: "My feet darn near froze to death."

 

McCarthy has spun an adventurous story about this little-known woman, highlighting her groundbreaking triumphs with respectful whimsy. ("Fun Facts," additional quotes, timeline, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 6-9) * Kirkus Reviews *