Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot: A True Story of the Berlin Airlift and the Candy That Dropped from the Sky

by Margot Theis Raven, Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen (Illustrator)

Overview

The remarkable and heartwarming true story of the Berlin Airlift and the candy that dropped from the sky.

Life was grim in 1948 West Berlin, Germany. Josef Stalin blockaded all ground routes coming in and out of Berlin to cut off West Berliners from all food and essential supplies. Without outside help, over 2.2 million people would die. Thus began the Berlin Airlift, a humanitarian rescue mission that utilized British and American airplanes and pilots to fly in needed supplies.

As one of the American pilots participating in the Airlift mission, Lt. Gail S. Halvorsen helped to provide not only nourishment to the children but also gave them a reason to hope for a better world. From one thoughtful, generous act came a lifelong relationship between Lt. Gail and the children of Berlin.

This is the true story of a seven—year—old girl named Mercedes who lived in West Berlin during the Airlift and of the American who came to be known as the Chocolate Pilot.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781585360697
Publisher:	Sleeping Bear Press
Publication date:	04/01/2002
Series:	Sleeping Bear -- True Stories
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 11.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1000L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

A national award—winning author and speaker, Margot Theis Raven's long professional career includes writing in the fields of radio, television, magazines, newspapers and children's books. She has more than 1,000 published articles to her name and nine children's picture books.

Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot, Margot's first book with Sleeping Bear Press, was a 2003 Children's Choice award winner from the International Reading Association. Margot's books bridge generations of readers through the belief that the worst of times can bring out the best in people and are often set against powerful backdrops such as World War II or America's Civil Rights period.

Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen was born in the Netherlands in 1951. With his seven brothers and sisters, he grew up exploring nature and his sketch pads were filled with observations from those family outings. Always drawing as a young boy, his father encouraged Gijsbert to make art his career. After high school, he attended and graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts in Arnhem, Holland.

Gijsbert, or "Mr. Nick" as many children affectionately call him during his school visits, immigrated to the United States in 1976 and worked as Art Director for the Michigan Natural Resources Magazine for 17 years. In 1995, he illustrated his first children's book, The Legend of Sleeping Bear, finally fullfilling his dream of illustrating children's books.

Residing in Bath, Michigan, Nick and his family share their 40—acre farm with sheep, horses, dogs, cats, turkeys, rabbits, chickens, pigeons and a revolving door of orphaned and injured wild life. The family's nature journals logged 20 years of wild life rehabilitation on the farm and it is through these journals that the popular Hazel Ridge series was created. The farm, the land and the animals make great subjects for the artist to paint.

Mr. Nick travels to schools and conferences to share his passion for drawing—encouraging kids to make their hobby their career.