Flight

Title

Flight

Author

Nadia Wheatley

Illustrators

Armin Greder

Publisher, Date

Windy Hollow Books, 2015

Audience

Primary, Secondary, Upper Primary

Curriculum Codes

AC9E5LA01, AC9E5LA02, AC9E5LA03, AC9E5LE01, AC9E5LE02, AC9E5LE03, AC9E5LE04, AC9E5LE05, AC9AVA6E01, AC9HP6P01, AC9HP6P02

AC9E5LA01, AC9E5LA02, AC9E5LA03, AC9E5LE01, AC9E5LE02, AC9E5LE03, AC9E5LE04, AC9E5LE05, AC9AVA6E01, AC9HP6P01, AC9HP6P02, AC9HP6P03, AC9HP6P04, AC9HP6P05, AC9HP6P06, AC9HP6P10, AC9E6LA01, AC9E6LA02, AC9E6LA03, AC9E6LE01, AC9E6LE02, AC9E6LE03, AC9E6LE04, AC9E6LE05, AC9E7LA01, AC9E7LA02, AC9E7LA03, AC9E7LE01, AC9E7LE02, AC9E7LE03, AC9E7LE04, AC9E7LE05, AC9E7LE06, AC9E7LE07, AC9AVA8E01, AC9HP8P01, AC9HP8P02, AC9HP8P03, AC9HP8P04, AC9HP8P05, AC9HP8P06, AC9HP8P10, AC9E8LA01, AC9E8LA02, AC9E8LA03, AC9E8LE01, AC9E8LE02, AC9E8LE03, AC9E8LE04, AC9E8LE05, AC9E8LE06, AC9E8LA01, AC9E8LA02, AC9E8LA03, AC9E8LE01, AC9E8LE02, AC9E8LE03, AC9E8LE04, AC9E8LE05, AC9E8LE06, AC9AVA10E01, AC9HP10P01, AC9HP10P02, AC9HP10P04, AC9HP10P05, AC9HP10P06, AC9HP10P10, AC9E10LA01, AC9E10LA02, AC9E10LE01, AC9E10LE02, AC9E10LE03, AC9E10LE04, AC9E10LE05, AC9E10LE06, AC9E10LE08, AC9HC10K02, AC9HC10K05

ISBN

9781922081483

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Subjects
1. Danger
2. Deserts
3. Families
4. Hope
5. Human rights
6. Refugees
7. Religion
8. Survival
9. Violence
10. Visual literacy
11. War
Annotation

‘Flight’ is a book that challenges readers’ perceptions and ideas of refugees. It appears from the cover and the early pages to be a re-telling of the biblical flight to Egypt soon though we learn that this is a modern tale of flight, a Muslim family fleeing violence and persecution.

Alerted that the authorities are after them, the family set off in the cold and dark, in biblical fashion, mounted on a donkey into a vast open desert landscape. The woman is afraid they are lost but is reassured that they are being guided by a bright star. The biblical allusions are soon shattered by bright flashes—‘The night’s bombardment has started’. Startled, the donkey bolts taking their meagre possessions and leaving them alone and with little sustaining water. The woman is frightened for her young baby but courageously they set off across the bleak and dangerous landscape to an unknown future and a promise that ‘One day … we will reach our new home’.

Armin Greder’s stark predominantly black and white charcoal images capture the fear and immensity of the family’s desert flight. Greder states that ‘he was drawn not only to themes around refugees but also to the silence and emptiness of the desert’. The artwork draws you into the family’s plight. Will the water last, will the jackals attack and when they reach a camp, becoming one among many, the unease stays as the reader recognises that the hope of a new and safe home may never be realised.

Nadia Wheatley was inspired to create this book after seeing a Nativity scene in a church showing the figures of Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus alone is a basic shelter in a huge expanse of sand. In place of angels were helicopter gunships. A Peace flag in front of the tableau was attached to a wall of sandbags that ran across the chapel. She states. ‘I was gobsmacked by this powerful anti-war statement and also taken by the way it translated the Nativity legend of the Flight to Egypt as a contemporary story about a little family of refugees fleeing persecution’.

The sense of connectedness between the two stories is powerful giving readers cause to be less complacent and consider the millions of refugees in today’s world and how they are depicted and treated.

‘Flight’ was the Winner of the 2016 CBCA Picture Book of the Year
2016 - Shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards – Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Books
2016 - Selected for ‘White Ravens’ catalogue by the International Youth Library
Teaching Resources
1. Christina Booth Story Talk Book Peeks. 20 December 2016. Review of ‘Flight’ by Nadia Wheatley and Armin Greder https://www.christinabooth.com/story-talk-book-peeks/flight
2. Riverbend School Book Club Teachers’ notes for ‘Flight’ by Nadia Wheatley and Armin Greder https://riverbendschoolsbookclub.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/flight-teaching-notes.pdf
3. EducateEmpower blog 15 August 2016. Vanessa Ryan Rendell reviews and provides teaching notes for ‘Flight’ By Nadia Wheatley and Armin Greder https://educateempower.blog/2016/08/15/flight-by-nadia-wheatley-and-armin-greder/
4. WA School Library Association ic3 Journal 6: 3 2016. ‘Feature Author: Nadia Wheatley’ incudes extensive discussion of ‘Flight’ http://www.wasla.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/ic3-2-2016-for-website.pdf
5. Reading Time 26 June 2015. Meet Nadia Wheatley http://readingtime.com.au/meet-nadia-wheatley/
6. Reading Time 26 June 2015. Meet Armin Greder http://readingtime.com.au/meet-armin-greder/
7. Where the books are. 16 December 2015. Kim Fulcher reviews ‘Flight’ by Nadia Wheatley and Armin Greder. https://www.wherethebooksare.com/blog-1/flight-sobering-breathtaking
8. World of Words Vol IX Issue 2. Review of ‘Fight’ by Nadia Wheatley and Armin Greder https://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/review/volume-ix-issue-2/4/
9. Teaching with Pictures. ‘Flight’ by Nadia Wheatley and Armin Greder. Free lesson plan, writing template and printable word-search puzzles for kids. https://www.teachingwithpicturebooks.com.au/picture-books/flight/
10. United Nations. Global issues ‘Refugees’ https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/refugees

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