My Ride to Vote Giveaway, sponsored by Sophie Blackall and FSG
Unless you missed it, recently the New York Times Best Illustrated list was released. And amongst the ten books listed was a very lovely title illustrated by Ms. Sophie Blackall and called A Voyage in the Clouds: The (Mostly) True Story of the First International Flight by Balloon in 1785. Written by Matthew Olshan it has it all. Jealousy. Foul play. Public urination. The works!
To celebrate the book’s inclusion on the list, we’re doing a bit of a giveaway. A giveaway where you can actually win a piece of Sophie Blackall art of your very own. THIS art:
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What do you need to do? It’s easy! Sophie had an idea to get out the vote in a small way of her own. Just share here in the comment section of this post your preferred mode of transportation you will use to get to the polls on Tuesday. By air, by land, by sea, you name it. The sillier, the better
Submit your suggestions by the end of Tuesday. You’ll be getting out the vote and potentially winning gorgeous art. It’s win-win!
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About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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Hovercraft
I briefly considered taking the kayak out to my polling place, but I’ll probably ride my bike instead!
By cat-pulled carriage, most likely.
I’m walking, but only because the dog won’t tolerate a saddle.
I voted early with my daughter who just turned 8 and was dressed as Abraham Lincoln. So, you could say I voted with Abraham Lincoln!
I shall rely upon the trusty, forward-propelling mechanisms attached to the ends of my ankles, aka my feet, and shall do so with gusto!
I’ll be wearing a pantsuit behind the wheel of bright blue convertible 2-seater with a license plate that reads “IMWHER” giving rides to folks who need ’em.
I’m going to fly over the polling site and jump out of the plane using a parachute made of pantsuits. (Plenty of P’s from a panicky peace-seeker!)
My witch’s broom is so disheartened it has trouble flying, so I may have to take the jetpack.
I will be walking to my mailbox to Vote By Mail!
As a passenger with a beginning driver…we made it safely and I was able to vote with my daughter by my side. Special moment!
Scooter! Wheeee!
Like any self-respecting Nasty Woman, I will get to the polls via broomstick, surrounded by flying monkeys.
I already voted! I hopped into a time machine and November 2nd became Election Day.
I was too nervous to wait until Tuesday so I voted already! I drove to our Vilkage Hall and took an elevator up to the second floor to vote 2 weeks ago this Monday-the first day of early voting in IL. On Election Day I will be home praying that my vote made a difference.
Roller Skates!
On the back of an elephant.
I’ll be driving or walking. But I think a horse-drawn sleigh would be a perfectly lovely way to travel to the polls.
Motor vehicle.
Automobile (I early voted though)
My feet!
Alas, my state votes by mail. However, on 11/08/16, I intend to walk to our island’s historic hall, happily scuffing giant yellow maple leaves out of the way. My beloved grandfather’s gavel will be in my pocket and I will recall the November day in 1972 when he proudly escorted me to the hall to cast my first vote.
Already rode my powder blue bicycle to the advance voting polling station. I wish I had had baseball cards flip-flapping in the wheels, though.
I’m actually quite worried about this–What if the lines are long, will my kids wait with me before school, will I be late to work and have to try again in the evening? I may have to claw my way there, inch by inch, nightmare style, but I will vote!
Train!
I will propel myself across the street to my assigned polling location with the use of my own two feet, or if I’m running late to work I will guiltily drive myself the few feet so that my car will be there ready to get me to work after voting. ????????✔️
Electric Wheelchair at the ripping speed of 5 mph.!
I live in a battleground state, so I’ll be bringing along my trusty invisibility cloak so that I can avoid getting harassed by Trump supporters on my way!
Just the two feet of a nasty woman!
My four children and I are hoping to find a magical unicorn to ride. Because everything is better with a unicorn.
Having voted already by mail, my mode of handling my nerves will be pacing and pacing and pacing and pacing (and checking returns) and pacing and pacing and pacing and pacing (and checking returns) and pacing and pacing . . . .
Pogo stick. In a pinch, a rabbit-drawn sled.
Riding my 98 Honda Elite scooter that looks straight out of Tron – the one promoted by Lou Reed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDLAM48TmJQ
A time machine since I voted early… I’d love to experience voting for a woman for president again!
My silver chariot will deliver me safely to the polls!
My ballot is in the mail. They are repaving my street, which has been making it rough on the mail carrier. I’d like to think he figured out a hover board so he doesn’t have to climb up the hills.
Voted early here in NC carried willingly by a flock of seagulls.
I have a rather large sun hat that I plan to sail down the east river to my polling location.
Time Machine. (voted already.)
I’ll walk slowly, smiling at everyone along the way since we will be needing a little extra kindness to get us through the day.
I will do NYC cross-country street crossing, evading bikes on the sidewalk, bikes on the street going the wrong way, skateboard stylists, scooter riders, and the slow-walkers of America.
Tin Can Stilts
Hot air balloon of course
My pet turtle, Susan B., is pulling me to the polling place in a little red wagon. We left this morning, so hopefully we’ll get there in time.
How to get to the polls…”A bubble from bubble gum with cheese seats on the inside and a steering wheel made of steel. It can go anywhere and it can never pop. It changes colors and you can eat it and it comes in all flavors. The bubble is blown by a special kind of insect that can’t be found on this planet. You have to go to mars. The insect can turn into a tiny piece of light, so no one can see it not even the Mars Rover.” Sophie Age Just 8
I will be walking, walking on my hands.
The ferry – it’s dependable with a proven track record.
Time machine, since I’d have to go back to when I voted early.
I will travel on my knees, beseeching whatever powers there may be to save our country, our Constitution, our human rights and our planet.
I’ve already voted, but, on Tuesday, I plan to simply walk to our polling place and cheer for people who are, like me, With Her. I have hopes that my fine upbringing will help me avoid flying off the handle and spewing hot air at people with opposing views. I am going to pray to the gods of good manners to help me avoid bad behavior (up to and including public urination) when confronted with anyone who is advocating grabbing any animals–dogs or (er) pussy cats. And, I’m hoping that on Wednesday, I don’t need to evacuate.
I’ll travel to the polls on a jackass…his name shall be Donald.
My daughter and I will be cartwheeling down the street to her school on Election Day, where we will vote together, holding hands on this historic occasion.
I am walking….in my bright fuzzy pink slippers! The polls are right next door to where I live!
I generally walk, but this year calls for something more special. Maybe I’ll take a jet around the world one last time before things are changed forever. Amelia Earhart will be the pilot and I’ll be seated with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Princess Leia. We’ll eat French toast and laugh really hard–because we know we’re all about to breathe a big sigh of relief. After breakfast, I will ride my special parachute down to the Bishop Boardman Apartments, where a young blonde woman named Ivanka, winks and hands me an #ImwithHer sticker right before I cast my ballot.
I’m walking. It should be a beautiful fall day. Once I’ve voted, I’m gathering my materials and standing outside the school where I teach (a polling place) to work for Hillary and VanHolden.
I guess I’m the only one who will be driving?
I must be boring as well. I drove.
Santa Ana winds will take me there.
I’m letting my hedgehog drive, he’s #withher too, and not just because her and Hillary also start with H. Loud noises freak him out and he hates the color orange.
On the shoulders of all the brilliantly courageous women who fought tirelessly for our vote
I already dropped off my ballot via the slip ‘n’ slide drop box lane.
Shanks’ pony! Neigh!
Submarine
By car and by foot … a combo deal!
Voted with my husband and toured the elections facility.
pirogue…I live on Bayou Teche in South Louisiana.
By stamp – I voted by mail.
No question…By my wind-powered rainbow-hued fair trade woolen magic carpet ride!!!
Comin’ in on a wing and a prayer
Comin’ in on a wing and a prayer.
Carpooled, of course.
I walked into City Hall to see an art show on the second floor and early voting had just started that day. So I voted then I saw some art.
A time machine so I can avoid this election and select one I would prefer to take part in.
I already voted! Travelled there by umbrella! ☂️
Oh how I wish I had Ms Blackall’s red and white striped hot air balloon to deposit me gently at my polling station where everyone is kind to each other, no one is intimidating, or mean, or domineering, or judgmental. Oh, I forgot…that’s Fiction. I’ll be driving.
On the dreams of a better future for my children and all children in our country.
I’ll be walking with my parents (immigrants, all!), and I’ll be wearing all white to remember the suffragists who worked so hard and didn’t give up until women had the right to vote!!
I’ll spread my wings and fly
I live in Florida so there is really only one way…. roping two gators, lashing one to either foot, and scooting through the swamp to the polling place. 🙂
(I mailed in my vote 😉 )
Voted already, and rather than spend time thinking up a anything witty I’ve been making calls making GOTV phone calls.
I do believe I’ll hitch a ride on the
Thing-a-ma-jigger!
I voted early, in my town office in Vermont. Here’s the proof! https://twitter.com/bethredford/status/794270720264052738
Standing on the shoulders of giants (grateful to those who paved the way for voting rights for all) while clinging to rays of hope that our country will elect a leader who respects all citizens
What a giveaway! Thank you for the chance. I will drive or walk, weather depending.
I’m going to vote after a quick stop at the Starbucks drive through. No reason to wait in line without a hot beverage in hand!
Broomstick! Witches parking only at the polls all others will be toad!
On a goat pulled wagon!
A magic carpet to enjoy my trip to the polling place.
Riding the wave and wearing white for or foremothers’ struggles to earn women the right to vote 96 years ago!
Honda for Hillary!
I walked my ballot to the mailbox with my four daughters and told them to always remember the day they helped their Mom vote the first woman into the White House.
I voted early, but I’ll be counting votes Tuesday night in Provincetown on Cape Cod. I may consider calling a pedicab and getting to our local polling place (aka Town Hall) in style.
I will crawl on my knees across the burning tarmac…or I’ll just walk the 120 feet and cast my vote in my neighbor’s garage. (Is this only a California thing?) Then I’ll wander the neighborhood like a cart driver during the Black Death, calling “Bring out your voters!”
boring…car
A beautiful pea green boat will ferry me to the West Bay Sanitary District (actual polling place, not made-up, and which my parents call “Poop Corner” for obvious and literary reasons), and my very worried seven-year-old will make sure I cast my vote properly.
How? A magical hot air balloon powered by the ashes of DT’s hair clippings of course!
Good ol’ fashioned self propelled bipedal locomotion.
I will be LEAPING into the voting booth and leaping out with every finger, toe, cuticle, hairstrand, vein, tendon crossed hoping for a good future for all of us.
On my flying dragons????????????????
I plan to drive to my my polling place, but in the spirit of the late (great!) Arnold Lobel… if my car falls apart, I will buy some roller skates and roll and roll and roll until the wheels fall off. Then I will buy some boots, and tramp and tramp and tramp until there are big holes in the boots. Then I will buy some sneakers and run and run and run until the sneakers are all worn out. Then I will simply take off the sneakers, and walk and walk and walk until my feet hurt so much I fear I cannot go on. But not to worry — in that case, I will simply take off my old feet and put on some new ones, and run the rest of the way to the polls!
I’ll be in rain gear driving a backhoe down the street clearing the mud from my path considering the fact that I’m living on the frontline of a major construction project and the prediction of rain!
I didn’t know my vote would give me a chance to hang this beauty in my reading classroom. Last Friday, I took my Toyota Camry up to the town square to vote for our next president!
I was hoping to sail in with the assistance of a magical umbrella, but the wind like this political season is too unpredictable. Then I thought I might borrow a pinch of fairy dust, but my anxiety over this election is making it a bit challenging to have happy thoughts. Soaring in on a giant peach was another option, but this campaign season is already a sticky enough situation for me. So, I decided to searched for a dragon, but they are all occupied in some faraway land where winter is also approaching and the battle for a leader is far more stressful (if that is even imaginable). Alas, it seems, I am left with the more traditional mode of transportation: car which requires much less energy from me despite the fact that it involves quite a complicated energy system from chemical to thermal to electrical to motion to sound. All of that energy, all of those parts so different from each other have to work together to propel the vehicle forward down the road to its next destination (my polling station) just as all of us voters need to remember that while voting doesn’t require a lot of energy and each of us voters is different from one another, no matter the end result on November 8, we must work together to move our country forward. This is the thought I will keep in mind as I stride from my car to town hall to my voting booth. If the wind changes, though, let me know, so I can grab my umbrella.
I will actually WALK. The polling place is right next door to my house. (And you can see it outside the window of what I call my “hot air balloon” room.)
On the back of a giant sea-turtle!
The mother of dragons said she would give me a lift.
Time machine. I voted Friday, October 28, with gusto!
I live in Manhattan so I’ll be walking!
On cricket wings!
I using a teleporter to go vote because if a certain party wins (Trump), I’m using it go somewhere far away! HAHAHA!
In the T.A.R.D.I.S. with the Doctor.
It’s quite simple and old-fashioned, but I usually use my two legs and walk to my polling place. I am fortunate to live in a state where the leaves are still changing on election day, and many are underfoot, crunching as I head to the nearest elementary school to cast my ballot. I have lived in my home for 13 years, and I love this tradition – I look forward to it each November!
I’ll be bringing a wardrobe full of pantsuits to the polls… even though I already voted by mail.
On top of my giant, bright pink, robotic t-Rex, the one with the blue tutu and sequins on the bow that send sun sparkles everywhere we stomp and makes the most amazing clackity roar. If he’s not properly charged, I’ll walk.
Flying aboard the Millennium Falcon. #theforceiswithher
I’ll be using my handy dandy time machine, since I early voted last week!
I think I will roller skate there! 🙂
I’m waking into my local library! All the libraries in town are polling places. Brilliant!
Perhaps it is a bit too on the nose, but I can’t help but wish I could get to the polls by hot air balloon. I could see the sandbags being quite helpful, warding off any harmful beings in the way. Alas, I will be walking. I’ll be praying the streets of NYC stay safe, and also my child who has school that day right next to a polling site. And I’ll be praying that whatever the outcome, we all remember to live in respect and civility to all people.
By my own two nasty feet.
Floo powder, naturally!
A Nimbus 2016…I wish! Or maybe a reindeer pulled sleigh cause all I want for Christmas and this election is peace on Earth.
My walk will be quiet and without much ado. But with each stride the spirit of Elizabeth, the conviction of Lucretia, the belief of Carrie and the perseverance of Susan will echo around me; their words and deeds whispered on the morning breeze as I open the door to the polling place and step within.
Ride on the handle bars of my daughter’s bicycle, so she can be there when I cast my vote!
I plan to get out my umbrella that Mary Poppins lent me and have the East Wind blow me to the polls. We need Mary’s help to learn valuable lessons with a magical touch!
I will be using my levitation cape…move over, Dr. Strange!
Because I am out of state filing by absentee ballot, I will make it into an super sonic paper airplane drone to have it delivered on the November election winds that are swirling and thrashing unlike any other year, God Speed Air Ballot One!
Crab walk!
I will walk the few short blocks to my polling place, but I would happily walk hundreds of miles to cast this particular vote.
I’m not eligible, since Ms. Blackall has already provided me with the world’s greatest artwork. But I would like to say to everyone who has responded so far: excellent work! The author approves.
Since my trusty old broom is in the shop for repairs, I’ll be using my new stick vac. It’s a smoother ride anyway. And there’s room for my feline familiar, Hex. She insists she’s going to cast her ballot too, even after I told her she wouldn’t be allowed. Uh, oh. She’s brewing up a potion now…
I will sit in my hammock as my son pulls it back farther and father. He will let go and I will soar over houses and trees to my polling center. Don’t worry. I’ll wear a helmet.
While I could very easily walk, or skip or jog in a zigzag pattern. I would like to go to the polls by rainbow haired, sparkling unicorn who will create a rainbow pathway for us to take through the sky to my local polling place and while I am voting would wait outside the polling place to give everyone who comes to vote cotton candy and lollypops for doing their civic duty, then it will take me back home via the rainbow road in the sky, watching glitter shower down as we pass.
Since we’re celebrating DiNovember at my library this month, I plan to ride my t-rex to the polling place!
Voting by Vespa.
The Pink Comet, at your service!
The route to my polling place is flat, so a funicular wouldn’t be practical.
There isn’t any water on the way, so a gondola or hovercraft won’t work.
It hasn’t started to snow yet, so neither a bobsled nor a Zamboni is an option.
I could ride a unicycle, but I don’t know how.
Seeing as this election is so important (even in the true-blue state of Massachusetts), I am going to take the safest and surest way: my own two feet.
Escorted by my two pre-voters, all of us dressed in white.
Just unicycle.
We’re making it a family affair! My son, daughter, and two grandchildren are sneaking me away from the library to vote and eat lunch, then back to work. My chariot awaits!
I will take my birth control pill. I will look at my educational degrees. With a heart full of gratitude for every activist who has paved the way for me and this moment, I will take my two small sons, who were born into Obama’s presidency, and vote for our first woman president.
Silly Sally style…walking backwards upside down!
My car. I was going to walk but I had to get to the library on time.
I walked! First thing, before coming to work, yay!
So boring. Drove my car to the nearest school, 1/2 mile. Dreamed of walking on my hands to school when I was a child. I would’ve done that if I had to to vote in this election.
I will go to vote pushing baby in her baby carriage. Because she’s too small to push me.
I walked the 3 block to my polling station with my little dog in tow and enjoyed the autumn leaves and the very blue sky above.
Walking briskly in a sharp pants suit.
Definitely a dirigible
I wanted to walk but it was raining, so we drove. I brought my toddler daughter along and voting for her future felt so good I could almost believe I had flown there in a hot air balloon!
Somersaulting over the excitement of voting for our first woman president!
Under the glow of street lamps, with an autumnal scent swirling in the breeze, I walked the path leading me to vote for the first female President.
I walked- snuck out of the house- so small “Toto” dog- by the name of Pippin, didn’t get any ideas.
The polls came to me via the USPS, and then I drove my ballot to work, but I would like to think that, as we checked in the morning bookdrop, I rode a tidal wave of books (Madam President, The President’s Daughter, and more) from the bookdrop, across the library, and to the ballot box.
In the spirit of democracy, I asked my kids for their vote on the issue. My 4-year-old would prefer to ride a penguin to the polls while the 7 year-old requested a cheetah to ride (because, of course, it’s the fastest animal), and my 5-year-old wanted to ride a jaguar to the polls (to try to catch the cheetah). My 10-year-old would ride her scooter after attaching it with string and tape to a car headed that direction.