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Honor Flight: Celebrating America's Veterans

Author Jeff Gottesfeld
Illustrated by Matt Tavares
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Hardcover
$18.99 US
Candlewick
9-3/4"W x 11-13/16"H | 20 oz | 20 per carton
On sale Mar 03, 2026 | 40 Pages | 9781536230154
Age 7-10 years | Grades 2-5
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The team behind Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier join forces to create a touching companion book honoring military veterans and the program that keeps their contribution alive.

Located in our nation’s capital are monuments dedicated to the service members who fought in the last century’s wars. Visitors line up to gaze at the Iwo Jima Memorial, stark against the sky; the solemn Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; the national World War II Memorial with its circle of unity; the Korean War Veterans Memorial; and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, engraved with tens of thousands of names. It is here that the Honor Flight program has brought some 300,000 aging veterans, all of them deserving a chance to see their commitment and sacrifice honored and commemorated. Told in the voice of an anonymous veteran, Jeff Gottesfeld’s first-person narrative conveys the emotional impact of a visit that not only encompasses a tour of the monuments but also includes moving tributes from friends and schoolchildren and ends with the kind of welcome home that some of the veterans had never received. Matt Tavares’s striking illustrations bring readers close to both Washington’s timeless monuments and the veterans whose role in history will never be forgotten. An afterword and notes from the author provide more information for curious readers.
  • SELECTION | 2026
    Junior Library Guild Selection
A solemn and respectful reminder to younger readers of what was paid and what is owed—with strong emotions and a few well-placed dashes of vinegar to counter any incipient sentimentality.
—School LibraryJournal (starred review)

[A] touching work. . . . Written by an honor flight volunteer and supported by substantial back matter, this unique and fitting tribute shines.
—Booklist (starred review)

[Gottesfeld’s] firsthand experiences comes through in the text’s specificity and intensity. . . . Tavares brings his whole heart to the quietly masterful pencil and digitally colored images, from dignified elders using mobility devices to proud portrayals of the racially diverse veterans.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Jeff Gottesfeld is the author of Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, illustrated by Matt Tavares. An acclaimed writer whose work has won awards from the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, and the National Council for the Social Studies, he has previously written for adult, teen, middle-grade, and picture book audiences. Jeff Gottesfeld is based in Los Angeles.

Matt Tavares is the author-illustrator of Crossing Niagara, Henry Aaron’s Dream, There Goes Ted Williams, Becoming Babe Ruth, and Growing Up Pedro, as well as Zachary’s Ball, Oliver’s Game, and Mudball. He is the illustrator of Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, Over the River and Through the Wood, Lady Liberty by Doreen Rappaport, The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup, and Jubilee! by Alicia Potter. He is also the creator of the modern Christmas tales Red and Lulu and the New York Times bestseller Dasher and its sequels. Matt Tavares lives in Ogunquit, Maine.
Jeff Gottesfeld View titles by Jeff Gottesfeld
Matt Tavares View titles by Matt Tavares

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About

The team behind Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier join forces to create a touching companion book honoring military veterans and the program that keeps their contribution alive.

Located in our nation’s capital are monuments dedicated to the service members who fought in the last century’s wars. Visitors line up to gaze at the Iwo Jima Memorial, stark against the sky; the solemn Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; the national World War II Memorial with its circle of unity; the Korean War Veterans Memorial; and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, engraved with tens of thousands of names. It is here that the Honor Flight program has brought some 300,000 aging veterans, all of them deserving a chance to see their commitment and sacrifice honored and commemorated. Told in the voice of an anonymous veteran, Jeff Gottesfeld’s first-person narrative conveys the emotional impact of a visit that not only encompasses a tour of the monuments but also includes moving tributes from friends and schoolchildren and ends with the kind of welcome home that some of the veterans had never received. Matt Tavares’s striking illustrations bring readers close to both Washington’s timeless monuments and the veterans whose role in history will never be forgotten. An afterword and notes from the author provide more information for curious readers.

Awards

  • SELECTION | 2026
    Junior Library Guild Selection

Praise

A solemn and respectful reminder to younger readers of what was paid and what is owed—with strong emotions and a few well-placed dashes of vinegar to counter any incipient sentimentality.
—School LibraryJournal (starred review)

[A] touching work. . . . Written by an honor flight volunteer and supported by substantial back matter, this unique and fitting tribute shines.
—Booklist (starred review)

[Gottesfeld’s] firsthand experiences comes through in the text’s specificity and intensity. . . . Tavares brings his whole heart to the quietly masterful pencil and digitally colored images, from dignified elders using mobility devices to proud portrayals of the racially diverse veterans.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Author

Jeff Gottesfeld is the author of Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, illustrated by Matt Tavares. An acclaimed writer whose work has won awards from the American Library Association, the Writers Guild of America, and the National Council for the Social Studies, he has previously written for adult, teen, middle-grade, and picture book audiences. Jeff Gottesfeld is based in Los Angeles.

Matt Tavares is the author-illustrator of Crossing Niagara, Henry Aaron’s Dream, There Goes Ted Williams, Becoming Babe Ruth, and Growing Up Pedro, as well as Zachary’s Ball, Oliver’s Game, and Mudball. He is the illustrator of Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, Over the River and Through the Wood, Lady Liberty by Doreen Rappaport, The Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup, and Jubilee! by Alicia Potter. He is also the creator of the modern Christmas tales Red and Lulu and the New York Times bestseller Dasher and its sequels. Matt Tavares lives in Ogunquit, Maine.
Jeff Gottesfeld View titles by Jeff Gottesfeld
Matt Tavares View titles by Matt Tavares

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