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Jump to navigationJump to searchSadie the Airmail Pilot by Kellie Strom (view source)
Revision as of 11:04, 6 May 2018
, 11:04, 6 May 2018no edit summary
Then, there was the story - a story of Air Mail pilots, flying the dare-devil missions from that fantastic city, over that wondrous countryside; and specifically, Sadie, the little cat who takes the mail to the remote, wind-beaten weather station at Knuckle Point, risks her life to deliver the mail (including the love letters and the shopping catalogue), survives a crash and then gets rescued by a friendly mammoth called Igor only to be immediately sent on another mission by her rather slave-driving elephant boss.
I wondered how many children would be able to identify with or even understand the point of "The winds may blow ice and snow, But still the Air Mail has to go"; and the Chief seemed a singularly slave-driving type of bully. But small children have surprisingly authoritarian minds (c.f. the Fat Controller and the feudal reverence given to him by the engines) so I don't think they would be bothered, though I couldn't stop feeling that Sadie should perhaps refuse to fly another mission before being fed and having a sleep. But (don't laugh) there was a vague reminiscence of Exupery's [[''Southern Mail]] '' and a reminder of the romantic, pioneering days of aviation.
Some readers might also worry about the message that seems to preach bravado and praise pressing on with a task whatever the dangers: I personally think that even little children are rather well aware of the difference between what is essentially a fairy tale and real life and won't necessarily attempt to apply such principles to their lives.
