Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis — Content Guide for Parents
Found in this book
- Scary contentBrief
- Gender rolesSupportingChallenges traditional roles
Not found
- Violence
- Religion
- Race & culture
- Profanity
- Climate
- Sexual content
- Gender & orientation
Content themes
Factual summary of themes present in this book. No opinion — just the facts.
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Summaries and source quotes for every theme.
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Religion
PRESENTContains references to prayer and church attendance. A minister character plays a supporting role in two chapters.
About this book
As a child, Mary Wilkins Ellis longed to fly, but she had to wait until she was 16 before she could have her first lesson. She soon became the youngest licensed pilot in her English county, but then all civilian flight was banned when Germany launched its attacks on Britain in 1940. Mary was grounded.
One day she chanced to hear a radio appeal for Britons with pilot’s licenses—even women—to join the Air Transport Auxiliary and ferry brand new fighter planes to Royal Air Force bases. Mary immediately applied, and spent the rest of the war delivering hundreds of different kinds of aircraft—most of which she’d never flown before—forming lifelong bonds with her colleagues, surviving many a close call, and helping to save her country from destruction.
After the war she became a flight instructor, ran an air taxi service, then managed an airfield, the only woman in Europe to do so. In her spare time, she won rallies in her racing car. Mary’s childhood dream became a thrilling lifetime aloft, lasting until she died at 101.
With watercolor and ink illustrations which perfectly capture the exhilaration of flying, Taking Off brings this little-known figure and her can-do spirit to life.
Extensive material in the back of the book includes additional information about Mary Wilkins Ellis and the Airport Transport Auxiliary, as well as sources.
Frequently asked questions
Is Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis appropriate for a 7-year-old?
Mary has a few close calls while flying, such as an engine cutting out in midair, though the book shows them calmly. Mary is a woman pilot in wartime Britain who is at first barred from the RAF and is doubted by a ground crew because she is a woman.
Does Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis have violence?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis have scary content?
Found (Brief): Mary has a few close calls while flying, such as an engine cutting out in midair, though the book shows them calmly.
Does Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis have religion?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis have race & culture?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis have profanity?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis have climate?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis have sexual content?
Not found in the sources we checked.
Does Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis have gender roles?
Found (Supporting, Challenges traditional roles): Mary is a woman pilot in wartime Britain who is at first barred from the RAF and is doubted by a ground crew because she is a woman.
Does Taking Off Airborne with Mary Wilkins Ellis have gender & orientation?
Not found in the sources we checked.
