19th August Aviation Day

The 19th August is Aviation Day, a day to celebrate the development of aviation. It falls on and commemorates the birthday of Orville Wright. It is also a day to display all the plane books in the library for all the eager aviators that frequent it looking for books to do some plane spotting. There's so many in my library. See library pinterest page here. It is also a good time to look at all the biographies there are about aviation pioneers. These among others:

Bessie Coleman

 Louis Bleriot

Nancy Bird Walton

 John Flynn

Alberto Santos-Dumont

 Betty Skelton

Amelia Earhart

 The Wright Brothers

Ten Brave Australians

8th December International Civil Aviation Day

Yesterday, the 7th December was International Civil Aviation Day, a global celebration organised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The purpose of the global celebration is to generate and reinforce worldwide awareness of the importance of international civil aviation in the social and economic development of States, and of the role of ICAO in promoting the safety, efficiency and regularity of international air transport.

Perhaps this is a good time to read about flying and how it has changed our world. You could read about some famous aviators such as the Wright brothers or Amelia Earhart. Both of these are subjects in DK readers - First Flight: The Wright Brothers by Caryn Jenner and Amelia Earhart by Tanya Lee Stone. You could look at how Qantas began, the Flying Doctor Service or just do a picture study of how planes have changed. Books such as DK Big Book of Airplanes by Caroline Bingham or the new Flight: 100 Years of Aviation by Reg Grant are good for this. The latter is too hard to read for younger children but the pictures will keep them absorbed.