Biography Blog

BOOK ENTRY FORMAT FOR GENRE PROJECT

Information for students
Author: Nikki Grimes Title: Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of
Aviator Elizabeth Coleman
Book Genre: Biography Publishing Info: Orchard Books, 48 pp.

Summary: This book tells the story of Bessie Coleman who is the first colored woman to fly. It follows her from her poor childhood picking cotton to becoming an aviator. She did what no one said she could do and encourages the reader to do the same. The story is brought alive by being told from different viewpoints such as her siblings, reporters, teachers, and friends. You hear a firsthand account of her life from the people who loved and admired her the most.

Personal rating: ****

Rationale: I liked that it was told from numerous viewpoints and put together to make a cohesive story. The pictures were attractive and went well along with the story.

Information for teachers
Reading level: 6.1 Interest level: K – 8th

Thematic Areas: courage and honor, determination, perseverance, adventure

Content Areas: careers/pilot, African American, social studies, transportation/planes, aviation, history

Potential Problems or Difficulties: dialect

Possible use in classroom: Group reports on the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow Laws. Plot on a map where Bessie has been. Have students tell about the chores they do at home and compare with Bessie’s chores. Use a scale to measure various objects weight just like Betsy measured the cottons weight in the story. Visit an airport. Build paper airplanes and predict how far they will go. See whose plane will go the furthest, whose will fly the smallest distance, and the average for the class. Then compare to predictions in the beginning. Could use this book for a reader’s theatre and have each child read one of the narrator’s monologues.