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Claire Bear's First Solo
Written by Sue Hughes
Illustrated by Wang DaiYu of International Illustrators
In this, the second in the Claire Bear series, the pink-clad acrobatic pilot (Urus Aviatrix) remembers her first
solo—a day she'll never forget. When her mother, who is also her flight instructor, determined she was ready, Claire
felt both excited and just a bit scared. Summoning all her knowledge and skill, Claire successfully mastered her first
solo takeoff and landing as her family and friends cheered her on.
This colorful, soft cover, 40-page picture book relates Claire's memorable milestone using aviation lingo such as "traffic," "tower,"
"hold line," and "throttle." It introduces readers to the thrills and challenges of a first solo, a flight that every pilot
remembers, in lyrical, rhyming stanzas that ages 3 to 8 will adore. For a copy personally signed by the author, include instructions at checkout.
Read a review.
 It's more important than ever to have good role models from an early age - whether it be real pilots or fiction pilots. Here's a book for little kids that provides such a role model. Even if it is a bear! 
- Cathy Gale, writer and creator of You Fly, Girl blog
My granddaughter enjoyed the Claire Bear solo book! So did I!!!
- Sarah Rickman, WASP biographer
My 7 year old granddaughter, also named Claire, was absolutely enthralled with "Claire Bear's First Solo". She immediately insisted on reading the book aloud to us and subsequently acted out a trip around the traffic pattern flying a pillow around the living room including a landing (on hands and knees on the floor) ending in a turnoff on A-9 (Grandpa's lap). She was naturally full of questions and I was able to show her the "Master Switch" on a C-172 panel poster I had in my study.
Wang DaiYu's drawings are both beautiful and technically accurate, and really capture the essence of flight. As a pilot since 1951, even I enjoyed the book, and I do hope it gets the message across that flying is not just a male thing. I was indoctrinated early as my first flight in an airplane in 1948 was with a woman pilot. My first flight instructor that same year was also a woman, a time when I'm sure the percentage of female pilots was even lower than today.
- Don H, Aurora, Colorado
I got… my 7 year old daughter to read me Claire [Bear]'s First Solo this morning. It really is a delightful book. Your use of actual pilot words was interesting, both for being new words for my daughter and serving to open up discussion about real aviation topics. The "Three Charlie Bravo" bit was also a nice lead in to your second book [The Pilot Alphabet].
You have captured beautifully, I think, the aviation solo experience in a way which promotes discussion with the kids, and the artwork is beautiful. Too many books for kids seem to disappoint with regard to containing actual real-world material (being "cuted-up" beyond recognition). Yours did not... the blend of kid-friendly style and actual things of interest to an aviator was stylish and refreshing. I think it is a book we can re-read a few times, delving into deeper discussions about the various unfamiliar words.
- – Doug Worrall, airline pilot and cartoonist
I liked the list of definitions in the back of the [Claire Bear’s] First Solo book. . . we went back after we read the book, and I pointed out all of the different words to [my daughter] during the story, so she understood what they were.
- – Toula M, Connecticut
Other books by Sue Hughes:
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