Around 1975, Steven Bales faced a problem common to parents of young children everywhere: he was trying to coax his young son to go to sleep. So he cut his son a deal: a story in exchange for slumber.
But Steven didn’t tell his son about Goldilocks or Jack and the Beanstalk. A member of the U.S. Army’s legendary 82nd Airborne, Steven instinctively turned to what he knew. Duty, courage, honor…and, of course, jumping out of airplanes. And so Johnny Airplane was born.
Over the years, this bedtime story was eventually shared with all of Steven’s children. Now grown and married, Steven’s children have continued the tradition, telling the story to their own children.
And after repeated urging from his lovely wife, Steven has now put his decades-old tale in print to share with others!
He heard Fred the Fireman giving jump commands to his men. “Stand up. Hook up. Check static lines. Check equipment. Sound off for equipment check. Stand in the door.”
Now they were over the drop zone, and Johnny turned on the special light for Fred to see. When Fred saw the light turn from red to green, he yelled, “GO!” One by one the firemen jumped out, and floated down to the ground where they began to put out the fire.
-Passage from Johnny Airplane
A Note from the Illustrator
Once in a while a character comes along that you attach yourself to. Johnny Airplane is that character.
When Steve asked if I was interested in illustrating a “little story” he had written, honestly I was feeling like I just couldn’t do anything right now. That same week I had finished a marathon four months on a separate project and just needed a break from the drawing table. Also, I knew Steve personally and writing was not one of those things he had ever talked about. But I said with a little disinterest, “Email it to me.”
Oh my! As I sat in my office reading the first page, I stopped and called for my husband Gary to come quickly. That first page described my husband (the airline pilot) and every other pilot I knew. Johnny Airplane’s love of flying was what I experienced in my home every day. You see, we are an aviation family and in my 36 years of marriage, I had not seen the words on a page to describe the love of flying like Steve had written for Johnny Airplane.
Amazing, we all fell in love with Johnny through each trial, each emotion, and each heroic effort on each page. You will love him too.
- Nancy Peterson
