Bessie Coleman

Daring to Fly

From the Series On My Own Biography

  • Interest Level: Grade 2 - Grade 4
  • Reading Level: Grade 3

High in the sky, Bessie Coleman could soar like a bird. She was free—at least until she landed. As a black woman in the 1920s, she wasn’t allowed to learn how to fly. Forced to travel to France to learn, she became the first African American woman to earn her pilot’s license. Whether she was wing-walking, giving a speech, parachuting, or flying, Coleman inspired people with her bravery and resolve.

Format Your Price Add
978-0-87614-103-8
$8.99
978-1-57505-713-2
$28.99
Available at all major wholesalers and distributors. Save 25% off list price on hardcovers and ebooks when you buy direct! Digital purchases will be accessed on Lerner Digital Bookshelf. An account will be created for you after purchase.
Interest Level Grade 2 - Grade 4
Reading Level Grade 3
Category 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, 5KN: Narrative Nonfiction, Diverse Books: Feminism, Diverse Books: Race & Ethnicity, Diverse Books: Social Class, Diverse Books: Social Justice, Diversity
Copyright 2003
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Brand On My Own Books
Imprint First Avenue Editions ™, Millbrook Press ™
Language English
Number of Pages 48
Publication Date 2003-01-01
Reading Counts! Level 2.7
Text Type Narrative Nonfiction
BISACS JNF007090, JNF057010, JNF007120
Dewey 629.13'092
Graphics 1-color illustrations, Full-color illustrations
Dimensions 5.875 x 8.5
Lexile 590
Guided Reading Level N
ATOS Reading Level 3.5
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 66261
Accelerated Reader® Points 0.5
Features Reviewed, Teaching Guides, and Timeline

Author: Sally M. Walker

Sally M. Walker has been a children’s book writer for over 20 years. Most of her books are nonfiction and present various science topics to young readers. Fossil Fish Found Alive is the story of the hunt for the elusive fish called the coelacanth. Sally also enjoys combining science investigation with historical topics. Her book Secrets of a Civil War Submarine, which won the 2006 Robert F. Sibert Medal, tells about the history, loss, and re-discovery of the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in battle. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland takes readers on archaeological expeditions, where the forensic analysis of colonial settlers’ bones helps us to understand their lives. Sally especially enjoys writing narrative nonfiction that captures the reader’s attention with a true story. She is also the author of 2019 Orbis Pictus Honor Book Champion: The Comeback Tale of the American Chestnut.

Illustrator: Janice Lee Porter

Janice Lee Porter was born and raised in Chicago. She has a BFA in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from California State University, Chico. She is the illustrator of over two dozen children’s books and is an art faculty member at Shasta College in Redding, California, where she teaches painting and drawing. She lives in Chico, California.

Lerner eSource™ offers free digital teaching and learning resources, including Common Core State Standards (CCSS) teaching guides. These guides, created by classroom teachers, offer short lessons and writing exercises that give students specific instruction and practice using Common Core skills and strategies. Lerner eSource also provides additional resources including online activities, downloadable/printable graphic organizers, and additional educational materials that would also support Common Core instruction. Download, share, pin, print, and save as many of these free resources as you like!

On My Own Biography

Engage readers’ interest and imagination! These award-winning biographies feature full-page illustrations. Written in story format, each book features pivotal episodes that reveal what kind of person the subject is (or was) and how he or she came to be famous. View available downloads →

Reviews

The Horn Book Guide

“Newly independent readers will be inspired by Bessie Coleman’s determination to learn to fly at a time when neither women nor people of color were allowed to do so in the United States.”
The Horn Book Guide