Tiny jumper : how Tiny Broadwick created the parachute rip cord Author: Dahl, Candy | ||
Price: $23.78 |
Summary:
Tells the story of Tiny Broadwick, the first woman to ever parachute from a plane and the inventor of the parachute rip cord, and how her determination, courage, adventurousness, and joy in doing what she loved lifted her up to stand as tall as a pioneer in flight.
Illustrator: | Joshi, Maithili |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (09/15/23)
Booklist (+) (06/01/24)
The Hornbook (00/09/23)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 09/15/2023 *Starred Review* Notable enough as a rare example of a pioneering aviator who actually survived into old age, Georgia Ann “Tiny” Broadwick (1893–1978) also merits the attention Dahl and Joshi give her in this picture-book profile, as she was the first woman to jump from an airplane in flight, the “inventor” of the rip cord (when the rope that was supposed to open her parachute snagged one time on the plane’s fuselage and she had to cut herself loose), and (a minute or so afterward) the first to demonstrate that fliers could survive a free fall. Portrayed in the painted illustrations and photos in the afterword as a small but resolute figure, serious of mien and emphatic of gesture, she began her aerial career in 1908, parachuting out of planes or hot-air balloons at state fairs and the like, until forced to retire after over 1,100 drops. The author tucks boxed quotes from her plucky subject into the pithy narrative (“I just hope I live until they get ladies on the moon”). A closing summation notes that, after a period of obscurity, she went on during and after WWII to become an expert consultant and to receive numerous honors and awards. Readers will come away in awe of her outsize courage and determination. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.