Violet the Pilot

by Steve Breen

Overview

Violet is a science-loving girl inventor with a flair for the air! Fans of Ada Twist, Scientist and Rosie Revere, Engineer will love this classic underdog story by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Steve Breen.

By the time she's two years old, Violet Van Winkle can engineer nearly any appliance in the house. And by eight she's building elaborate flying machines from scratch—mind-boggling contraptions such as the Tubbubbler, the Bicycopter, and the Wing-a-ma-jig. The kids at school tease her, but they have no idea what she's capable of. Maybe she could earn their respect by winning the blue ribbon in the upcoming Air Show. Or maybe something even better will happen—something involving her best-ever invention, a Boy Scout troop in peril, and even the mayor himself!

"An engaging story of a spunky girl who follows her dreams . . . Violet is a terrific role model."—School Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425288191
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	09/13/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	299,689
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.15(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Steve Breen is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist for the San Diego Union Tribune. He has also written and illustrated several popular picture books, including Pug and Doug, Violet the Pilot, and Stick. Steve lives in San Diego, California, with his wife and six children.

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 3- An engaging story of a spunky girl who follows her dreams. A precocious child, Violet could fix household appliances at age two. At four, she could take apart and reassemble a grandfather clock. Her mechanical skills were amazing; her social skills were not. At age eight, Violet creates elaborate flying machines using parts from her family's junkyard, but still has no friends. Other kids find her strange and make fun of her, and her only companion is her dog, Orville. When she sees a poster for an upcoming air show, she hopes to win acceptance by participating with one of her homemade contraptions. She builds a magnificent aircraft, but on her way to the show, she passes over a river and spots several Boy Scouts who are floundering in the rapids. She stops to rescue them and misses the event. Violet thinks she has lost her chance for approval, until the townspeople declare her their hero. Done in watercolors, acrylics, and Photoshop, the lively cartoon artwork evokes a nostalgic setting. Violet's various inventions are clever and amusing. Children will be inspired by her ability to find happiness with herself, despite the rejection of her peers. Violet is a terrific role model and her story would enhance most collections.-Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME

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School Library Journal

Violet Van Winkle is an inventor with a flair for air. Her father manages a junkyard and while other girls play with dolls and tea sets, Violet is busy tinkering with monkey wrenches and needle-nosed pliers building elaborate contraptions, especially flying machines, like her Bicycopter, Pogo Plane and Wing-a-ma-jig. Kids at school make fun of her, but Violet hopes that if she wins an air-show competition with her special plane, The Hornet, they'll be nice to her. On show day, she carefully calculates her flying time but diverts from her course to rescue a troop of Boy Scouts who have fallen into a river and drops them (literally) at the hospital. Sadly, her heroism makes her too late to enter the air show but her misery evaporates when the mayor presents her with a medal of valor. The comical cover is a grabber: Violet is piloting a homemade plane wearing a helmet and goggles and blowing bubble gum with Orville, her dog's ears streaming in the wind like her scarf. The cartoon illustrations of watercolor, acrylic and pencil soar with inventive details and angles, e.g. close-up of Violet's face in midair with bugs on her teeth. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

"An engaging story of a spunky girl who follows her dreams...Violet is a terrific role model."—School Library Journal

"Breen makes good use of both comedy and perspective in action-packed pictures...This will make a great read-aloud; take it on a trip, and youngsters will happily follow along."—Booklist

"Violet is charming and fearless."—Children's Literature

From the Publisher