Navigating through the air

Micaela Chirif. Illustrations by Jessica Valdez
Lima: Biblioteca Nacional del Perú (National Library of Peru), 2021
ISBN: 978-612-4045-65-3

When Santiago de Cárdenas was born, the sky was farther away than it is now. Or at least it seemed that way, because it was the year 1726, and no human being had ever flown.

Observing birds since childhood, Santiago discovered how they managed to lift themselves into the air, even the enormous and heavy condors. Years later, his findings would lead him to design a remarkable flying machine in the heart of the 18th century.

Reviews

“When Santiago de Cárdenas was born, the sky was farther away than it is now…”This is how the third-person narrator begins the story, offering continuity to the metaphor introduced visually, a verbal play that is not hesitation but precision, weaving together a narration that flows linearly while integrating a series of verbal and visual enumerations. Rather than slowing the narrative, these elements reveal the protagonist’s intellectual sharpness, the precision of factual details, and the delicate harmony between the language of scientific dissemination and literary expression.

[…] This work serves as a cultural transmission for children and, to paraphrase Michèle Petit, a poetic way of presenting science so that they may love it and take responsibility for it with a politically engaged mindset. For this reason, Navigating the Skies is a delightful poetics of science.”
Irina Burgos, Hueso Húmero