''Flying Jake'' is a children's picture book by

Lane Smith Walter Lane Smith III (April 29, 1936 – June 13, 2005) was an American actor. His well-known roles included newspaper editor Perry White in the ABC series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'', Walter Warner in ''Son in Law'', coll ...

. It was originally published in 1988 by

Macmillan Publishing Company Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

and reprinted by

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquire ...

in 1996. In this wordless story, a boy named Jake takes flight in pursuit of his pet bird, which has flown out of its cage and through a window. ''Flying Jake'' was the first independent work by Smith, who later illustrated ''

The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! ''The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!'' is a children's book by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Released in a number of editions since its first release by Viking Kestrel, an imprint of Viking Penguin in 1989, it is a parody of The Three Little Pigs ...

'' and ''

The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales ''The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales'' is a postmodern children's book written by Jon Scieszka and illustrated by Lane Smith. Published in 1992 by Viking, it is a collection of twisted, humorous parodies of famous children's stori ...

''.

Reception

The book received mixed reviews. In ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'',

Signe Wilkinson Signe Wilkinson (born July 25, 1950, in Wichita Falls, Texas) is an editorial cartoonist best known for her work at the ''Philadelphia Daily News''. Her work is described as having a "unique style and famous irreverence." Wilkinson is the only fe ...

called it "a rich picture poem that gives readers of any age a certain feeling about flight among the birds." Several teachers' guides have also recommended the book for use in grade school classrooms. However, Carol McMichael of ''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with ...

'' criticized ''Flying Jake'' for its "busy, confused story and bizarre illustrations."Carol McMichael. "Flying Jake." ''School Library Journal''. June/July 1988.

Notes

1988 children's books American picture books Children's fiction books Wordless books Macmillan Publishers books Children's books about birds Viking Press books {{child-picture-book-stub