Title: You Can’t Do That, Amelia!
Author: Kimberly Wagner Klier
Illustrator: Kathleen Kemly
Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
Genre: Children’s nonfiction, biography
Age level: 5-8
Themes: Woman role model, having hopes & dreams, determination, American icon
Synopsis: Young Amelia is a dreamer. She dreams of building her own roller coaster, learning to fly her own airplane, and even exploring the skies as one of the world’s first female pilots. But girls in the early twentieth century do not do such things. When Amelia tells her friends and family of her adventurous plans, they only shake their heads and say, “You can’t do that, Amelia!” Amelia is not discouraged. With every dream, she takes a chance and dares to see if she can build a roller coaster that will sweep her off her feet, if she can pass the test to become a pilot, and even if she might be able to guide her airplane into the wide, blue skies. Whimsically illustrated by Kathleen Kemly, You Can’t Do That, Amelia! captures the spirit of a young Amelia Earhart as she follows the dreams that will one day earn her a place in American history as one of the world’s first female pilots and one of the twentieth century’s most acclaimed adventurers. Well researched and supplemented with biographical information, research notes, and additional sources for the curious, You Can’t Do That, Amelia! will leave young readers inspired to follow their dreams and reach for the skies.
Synopsis: Young Amelia is a dreamer. She dreams of building her own roller coaster, learning to fly her own airplane, and even exploring the skies as one of the world’s first female pilots. But girls in the early twentieth century do not do such things. When Amelia tells her friends and family of her adventurous plans, they only shake their heads and say, “You can’t do that, Amelia!” Amelia is not discouraged. With every dream, she takes a chance and dares to see if she can build a roller coaster that will sweep her off her feet, if she can pass the test to become a pilot, and even if she might be able to guide her airplane into the wide, blue skies. Whimsically illustrated by Kathleen Kemly, You Can’t Do That, Amelia! captures the spirit of a young Amelia Earhart as she follows the dreams that will one day earn her a place in American history as one of the world’s first female pilots and one of the twentieth century’s most acclaimed adventurers. Well researched and supplemented with biographical information, research notes, and additional sources for the curious, You Can’t Do That, Amelia! will leave young readers inspired to follow their dreams and reach for the skies.
About the author: Kimberly Wagner Klier is an author and educator who enjoys sharing her love of history with children. Her writing has received honors and praise, and her books are widely used in national reading programs. Klier attended Vincennes University and Indiana University, where she received degrees in English literature and education. Klier lives on a small horse farm in Indiana with her husband, daughter, and two spoiled dogs.
About the illustrator: Kathleen Kemly has wanted to illustrate children’s books since she was in third grade. She illustrated A Fishing Surprise by Rae McDonald and is currently working on a book about Golden Delicious apples. Kathleen enjoys painting with friends, hiking in the mountains, and eating chocolate. Her beloved menagerie of pets includes a fat tabby cat and a lovely flock of chickens. She lives in Seattle with her husband and has two grown sons.
Pre-reading activities: Ask the students to discuss a time when they have had a dream or a wish and people have told them that they couldn’t do that. Have them elaborate on their feelings when they were told they couldn’t do what they wanted to, and if those people discouraged them from following their dreams.
Post-reading activities: Have the students list qualities of Amelia Earhart on the board, such as “courageous,” “determined,” etc. Ask if they know anybody in the community or in their families that are courageous, determined, etc and have them share. The students will then use each word in a sentence to describe Amelia, using descriptive words.
Reflection: This book is really enlightening for younger children because they see an American icon like Amelia Earhart get told she couldn’t do certain things she dreamed about and it only made her work harder. I think that the girls would idolize Amelia because she was a girl also and didn’t give up on her dreams.
Works Cited:
What a great book for young children. Whenever I talk to young children they always seem to have big dreams and big stories on how they are going to do these things. I think all to often children are discouraged because their dreams are 'unrealistic'. What a great book for going after your dreams! You made me really want to read it! I also love your activities! Listing the traits of Amelia, and then relating those traits to themselves, their classmates or other people in their community it a great idea! I love this!!
ReplyDeleteBridgid
I really liked this book because Amelia Earhart can be shown as a great role model, especially for girls. It is pretty much a portrayal of her life, including dates of when certain events in her life occurred. I feel like it could be used a lot to show determination and wanting to achieve your goals.
ReplyDelete