A Voyage in the Clouds

A Voyage in the Clouds

Matthew Olshan

Illustrated by Sophie Blackall 20016

Goodness the illustrations are wonderful!  But of course I've come to expect nothing less from Sophie Blackall.  The subject matter is fascinating- the first balloon flight across the English channel with a Frenchman and Englishman on board.  Olshan takes some creative liberties (the French bulldog and English bulldog are a nice touch) but the story is a fun look at an often overlooked part of history.  

Emily's Balloon

Emily's Balloon 
Komako Sakai 2006

I hardly ever buy brand new books, but this caught my eye at Barnes and Noble. There was something about the pictures and story that reminded me of Charlotte. And sure enough, she loves this book- enough to accidentally rip one of the pages. (It’s been carefully mended with tape).



“Brrnnnn” (balloon) was also one of her first words, so this book was read a lot. I love how simple and vintage-looking the drawings are.






Emily's mother cleverly ties a spoon to the balloon string to keep it from flying away. Then Emily spends the day playing with her balloon, and takes it outside for a tea party where the wind blows it up into a tree. It doesn’t quite have a happy ending, Emily’s balloon gets stuck and she has to go to bed without it. But her mother promises to borrow a ladder and get it down in the morning. It ends with Emily looking out her window and saying goodnight to her balloon.