Appearances
Join us for Sandra Dutton discussing and signing A Wheelchair that Flies.
OPTIONAL RSVP below, but not required to attend the event.
Lily, a newly minted fairy godmother who loves fancy dresses and easy magic, is stunned when she fails to cure Daniel, a thirteen-year-old boy who is wheelchair-bound due to a muscular dystrophy. Assuming that Daniel's life is frustrating and boring -- stuck in his room watching old sports clips -- Lily is surprised to learn of his love for statistics and that he has billed himself as THE WORLD'S GREATEST EXPERT ON BASEBALL.
Moreover, his deepest wish is to see the first National League night game played between the Reds and the Phillies at Crosley Field in 1935. But how is this going to happen?
The world is ripe for a fantasy that celebrates the strengths of those with disabilities and rejects the notion that a fairy godmother needs to concoct a "cure" to help individuals find fulfillment and happiness. Daniel, in fact, shows Lily what really matters to him and challenges her to produce some of her own best magic.
In the process, he teaches her about baseball, friendship, and the magic of flying machines.
An illustrated story in verse, with 36 original watercolor paintings.
Sandra Dutton discussing and signing A Wheelchair That Flies
Monday, June 16 at 7pm ET
Location: Joseph-Beth Cincinnati
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Boothbay Harbor Signing
for
"A Wheelchair That Flies"
by Sandra Dutton
Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 1:00pm to 3:00pm
Sherman's Bookstore
5 Commercial St
Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538
A Wheelchair That Flies (Paperback)
By Sandra Dutton (Writer/Illustrator)
$24.95
ISBN: 9781949512182
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Swanhorse Press - April 3rd, 2025
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Sandra Dutton signing for
A Wheelchair That Flies
Saturday, July 19, 2025,
9am -12pm
Our Lady Queen of Peace Summer Fair
82 Atlantic Ave.
Boothbay Harbor
'A Wheelchair That Flies': A journey of love and magic
Tue, 07/22/2025 - 10:30am
LISA KRISTOFF
Sandra Dutton’s new book, “A Wheelchair That Flies,” invites us into the life of 12-year-old Daniel who teaches readers, and his Fairy Godmother Lily, that needing a wheelchair for legs doesn’t mean you are not, or cannot, be happy. Dutton’s watercolor illustrations are charming, inviting, magical ... and as ever, sure to make readers smile. Written in rhythmic verse, complemented by charming watercolor illustrations, Dutton takes us on a journey we will take many times.
The story opens with Fairy Godmother Lily. She looks out at a star-lit sky listening for a wish uttered by her next charge/child to help. A lavender cloud appears above the child’s location and bursts. And she’s off – cape over her shoulders that takes on a wing-like appearance, magic wand in a pocket, “and leaps out headfirst into the night.” As soon as she arrives at Daniel’s house, in his room, and sees he is in a wheelchair, Lily automatically believes she knows what he wants. She doesn’t need to ask – she knows he wants to walk. That is until, after introductions of course, and after Daniel asks, “What are you, some kind of Barbie doll?” Imagine the mild indignation! “I’m your fairy godmother!” Insert eye roll here.
Lily tries to cast a spell to make Daniel “well.” She tries a few times. Daniel suggests she might want to “work with somone else," adding “I’m happy anyway.”
The walls of Daniel’s room are covered with baseball players. He watches games all of the time. What his Godmother has yet to learn is this: His late father was a ball player for the Louisville Bats. And, maybe, just maybe there is something she can do for Daniel ... Lily may have to put on a baseball thinking cap.
A conversation between Lily and her fairy godmother teacher Giselle in the Magic Shop where Giselle tells her student fairy godmother that spells don’t always work is a treasure.
Dutton weaves her own magic with this one. What does Daniel tell Lily he wants? How does she give/get it for him? You’ll just have to read the book and find out.
A lot of research went into this book begun in 2020 – and not only of the reading variety. Dutton met with families and the children. She recalled one home in Louisville had a large sliding board in the livingroom for their 9-year-old son who was not yet using a wheelchair.
“One woman was depressed because she wanted to have Thanksgiving in a certain place because it would allow a person to roll his chair in. And her father got all upset, pushed out of shape because she wanted to do that,” shared Dutton.
She visited drugstores, photographing wheelchairs (for drawing purposes) and spent a few hours learning how to drive one – ending with a collision into a display of surgical masks. At one store a clerk whose nephew had a muscle-wasting disease told Sandra eventually walking became impossible and that it was “... like trying to lift a 5-pound bag of flour on each foot.”
A major inspiration for this book came in a 2003 New York Times magazine article about Harriet McBryde Johnson. She lived an accomplished and happy life despite muscle wasting disease. She was an author, lawyer and disability rights activist. Johnson, representing the national disability rights group Not Dead Yet, famously took on the Australian philosopher and bioethicist Peter Singer who believed parents should be entitled to euthanize their disabled infant or young child. Johnson took him on in a 2003 debate that she wrote about for New York Times magazine.
“I was so impressed with her, and embarrassed and ashamed that I knew so little about that kind of a disease,” Dutton said.
And she’s not alone – how many of us do? “A Wheelchair That Flies” was completed a few years ago. It is Sandra Dutton at her absolute best. I’ve read it twice and it’s so hard not to reveal the magical adventure Daniel and Fairy Godmother Lily share. You know what you have to do: Plan on being at Sherman’s Books on Commercial Street Thursday, June 24 between 1 and 3 p.m. Meet Dutton at her book signing.
The following book review, by Emily Wolinsky, President of NMD (neuromuscular disabilities) United, says it all: “'A Wheelchair That Flies' celebrates disability autonomy and self-direction in ways never captured by traditional fairy godmother stories. Readers will fall in love with Daniel for his confidence, passion, and absolute comfort in his skin. They will empathize with the adorable and fallible Lily, Daniel's fairy godmother. And they will be reminded that wishes, like people, hold unique and precious to the individual.”
Sandra Dutton at the OLQP book signing in Boothbay Harbor July 19. Courtesy of Wayne Sheridan
Award Winning Artist and Author, Sandra Dutton Talk: A Wheelchair That Flies
September 23 @ 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
The museum is proud to host this special author talk that is free and open to the public. (Due to limited space, please RSVP to [email protected]). The event will kick off a yearlong fundraising campaign, with all book sales earmarked to improve accessibility and experience for museum visitors with mobility challenges.
Press release by Monte Ceceri Publishers: SAVANNAH, GA — SwanHorse Press is proud to announce the publication of A Wheelchair That Flies, the latest illustrated novel in verse from award-winning artist and author Sandra Dutton, online and in stores April 3, 2025.
Lily, a newly minted fairy godmother who loves fancy dresses and easy magic, is stunned when she fails to cure Daniel, a thirteen-year-old boy who is wheelchair-bound due to a muscular dystrophy. Assuming that Daniel’s life is frustrating and boring — stuck in his room watching old sports clips — Lily is surprised to learn of his love for statistics and that he has billed himself as THE WORLD’S GREATEST EXPERT ON BASEBALL.
Moreover, his deepest wish is to see the first National League night game played between the Reds and the Phillies at Crosley Field in 1935. But how is this going to happen?
The world is ripe for a fantasy that celebrates the strengths of those with disabilities and rejects the notion that a fairy godmother needs to concoct a “cure” to help individuals find fulfillment and happiness. Daniel, in fact, shows Lily what really matters to him and challenges her to produce some of her own best magic.
In the process, he teaches her about baseball, friendship, and the magic of flying machines.
An illustrated story in verse, with 36 original watercolor paintings.
Praise for A Wheelchair That Flies
“A Wheelchair That Flies takes us into the heart of true magic, on beyond impossible wishes. A story told in poems and oh-so-evocative watercolors, we fly along, too.”
— Charlotte Agell, author and illustrator of Maybe Tomorrow?
“In A Wheelchair that Flies, Sandra Dutton manages a feat that all readers will appreciate: infusing the tale with a wit and whimsy that is often sadly lacking in this type of book, while also acknowledging the reality that it is not possible to remove all suffering from the world. Children will delight in the bright illustrations and the way she turns the tables of the usual paradigm by letting the child teach the adult how to navigate a challenging world.”
— Amy MacDonald, author of Little Beaver and the Echo
“Baseball is a magical time machine, connecting now with then and people with very different skills. With her new book, Sandra Dutton waves a wand.”
— John Thorn, official historian of Major League Baseball
“A Wheelchair That Flies celebrates disability autonomy and self-direction in ways never captured by traditional fairy godmother stories. Readers will fall in love with Daniel for his confidence, passion, and absolute comfort in his skin. They will empathize with the adorable and fallible Lily, Daniel’s fairy godmother. And they will be reminded that wishes, like people, hold unique and precious to the individual.”
— Emily Wolinsky, President of NMD United
About the Author and Artist
Sandra Dutton is a writer, artist, and playwright who was born in Springfield, Missouri, grew up in Norwood, Ohio, and has lived in California, Kentucky, New York, Maine, and Savannah, Georgia.
She is an award-winning painter and has published six books for children, including Dear Miss Perfect: A Beast’s Guide to Proper Behavior and Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth. Both received starred reviews, and the latter was recommended by the National Center for Science Education.
Publishers Weekly wrote of Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth:
“Dutton sensitively navigates the sticky debate between creationism and evolution both through the young narrator’s delightful curiosity and honest questions, and through the various responses she receives from numerous caring adults.”
Dutton also has published essays and poems in major publications such as Commonweal, The Horn Book, The New York Times Book Review, Louisville Review, Wind Literary Review, and a poetry chapbook with Swamp Press.
She has a Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition and a B.A. in fine arts and lives in Savannah, Georgia.
Hi Friends,
AM 1160 The Quest Atlanta Catholic Radio is thrilled to introduce its new local morning show, The Morning Quest, and I have been invited to speak on the show. During my interview I will be talking about my new book, " A Wheelchair That Flies." My interview will be aired Wednesday, August 13th, during the 8 AM hour!
There are 4 easy ways to listen to AM 1160 The Quest:
On the radio in the Atlanta area: Tune in to AM 1160.
On the Quest website: Visit https://www.theQuestAtlanta.com
On the Quest app: https://thequestatlanta.com/download-our-app/ — or scan the QR code below. The APP is user-friendly and packed with many great features!
Apple Android
On any smart speaker: Say, “Alexa, tune to AM 1160 The Quest Atlanta.”
I truly hope you’ll join me for this special broadcast and continue to enjoy listening to The Morning Quest on AM 1160 The Quest Atlanta Catholic Radio every Monday through Friday.
Thank you, and God bless!
