A Nine Year-Old Aviator was written in Paris when Ruiz had just fled Chile. This tale is one of a series of stories written in the 1970s for Sarmiento. As they were both living in exile and he did not have work while his wife was childminding to provide for them both, every day Ruiz would present her with a different story to read to the child she was looking after. This story is illustrated by Camila Mora-Scheihing, to whom this tale was read as a child.