Flying Into History: Picture Book Month Day 3

Picture Book Month Day 3 theme: History

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The Hallelujah Flight  

Author: Phil Bildner 

Illustrator: John Holyfield

Special thanks to author Phil Bildner for uploading this video to Teacher Tube
after we explained our district's policy to block You Tube from student computers.



This amazing book trailer is one of my favorites and was created by kids.






 Literature Connection Activities

In 1932 James Herman Banning and Thomas C. Allen completed the first transcontinental flight by black aviators.
Smithsonian Institution, Neg. ID #99-15420

Getting to know James Banning and Thomas Allen


Listen to Engines of Our Ingenuity (episode no. 2230) presented by Dr. John H. Lienhard, of the University of Houston's College of Engineering. Dr. Lienhard presents historical information about aviator, James Banning.

Read about the life of James Banning-first black aviator to receive a pilot license from the from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce. He had to take one test because he was a black man and a second test to prove he was capable of flying an airplane.
James Banning Biography-African American Registry

Early Aviators
This website contains very good photographs of James Banning and his plane the "Miss Ames". It also offers a recommended reading list, and includes a memorial news article of Banning's accidental death during an air show in front of two thousand terrified spectators. 

Read and discuss the memorial notice (Early Aviators) and examine the word choices used. What type of thoughts crossed your mind as you read the news article at the bottom of the page?

CREATE a postcard of the Hallelujah Flight
Create a postcard from one of the places Banning and Allen may have seen from their cockpit or visited when they landed on the ground. For the address you can list them as "The Flying Hobos" from California. Print out your postcard and draw your image on the front of the card or find an online image and print it out and attach to the front of your postcard



Happy Reading!