Myron Uhlberg

Flying Over Brooklyn Myron Uhlberg

A magical story of how a young boy's everyday world is transformed into a snow-covered wonderland through the force of a blizzard and the power of a dream.

A young boy trudges through deep snow in a neighborhood park. Suddenly a strong wind grabs his coat and lifts the child up into the air. Soon the boy is soaring high above his strangely silent, snow-covered neighborhood. As he flies over familiar sites-a bridge over a frozen river, a baseball field, and an amusement park-he gains a new perspective on the world around him. The boy's airborne adventure provides a magical-if temporary-escape from the routine of everyday life. In the end the boy returns to the safety of his home and family, but is left wondering: Was it all just a marvelous dream or did it really happen?

Author Myron Uhlberg's story is based in part on his own childhood memories of the Great Blizzard of 1947 which blanketed Brooklyn and the surrounding area under several feet of snow. An author's note at the back of the book provides details about the snowstorm and places this fantasy in its historical context. Illustrator Gerald Fitzgerald's two-page, gently softened illustrations beautifully evoke the story's nostalgia and dreamlike quality.