The Horse Who Wanted to Fly

Charlie had an ordinary name and lived on an ordinary ranch.
But Charlie was no ordinary horse.
Charlie knew he could fly.

But no one believed him.
The naysayers said,
＂Ordinary horses do ordinary work.
They drag wagons, pull plows, and haul hay.
Horses can’t fly.
So don’t even try.＂

So begins the story of Charlie, an ambitious, determined and speedy horse who, with the help of some friends, proves once and for all that horses can fly. After years of toiling away as a work horse, Charlie, finally recognized for his incredible speed, ends up as a prize racehorse of Leland Stanford, the founder of Stanford University. Stanford has commissioned a photographer named Eadweard Muybridge to take high-speed photos of Charlie as he runs. During the trials, Muybridge snaps a photo of Charlie with all four hooves off the ground, thus proving all the naysayers wrong -- Charlie can fly!

Conveyed through Charlie’s story is an important message of resilience and self-confidence, telling young readers, ＂Believe in yourself, give it a try! How else will you prove that you can fly?＂

Pamela Kleibrink Thompson is an internationally acclaimed recruiter, career coach and animation veteran (she was a production manager on The Simpsons and an ink and paint supervisor on Paramount’s animated feature Bebe’s Kids [1992]). Pamela is also a popular speaker at colleges, film festivals and entertainment industry conferences around the world. She was named one of the top-10 recruiters by Animation Magazine and has worked with clients around the world, such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Technicolor, Framestore and Lucasfilm Animation. She has written for over 80 publications, including Media History Digest, Art Business News and Animation World Network.

Melissa Bailey is an award-winning illustrator, author and smiley person. She is the author-illustrator of two books, Pug Is Happy (2018) and Imara’s Tiara (2022, cowritten with Susan R. Stoltz), and has illustrated over 50 books, including Steve the Dung Beetle, for which she won the 2019 Moonbeam Awards silver medal for Best Illustrator.