The Boy and the Airplane

Description

From School Library Journal PreS-This beautifully designed, beautifully illustrated picture book uses muted beiges and grays for pages resembling brown wrapping paper and spare ink drawings in brown and dark red to tell a wordless story. A boy opens a wrapped package (presumably left for him by the man whose legs are seen walking off the opposite page), and he finds a toy airplane. He takes it outside and flies it, but the plane unfortunately lands on a roof. After various fruitless attempts with a ladder, lasso, baseball, and water hose to retrieve it, the child sits down to think things over, and a seed falls from a tree. He has an idea; he plants the seed and watches it grow to be a tree, as he grows older, too. When he is an old man, he finds the tree has grown enough that he can climb it and reach the roof where the airplane is still waiting. But when he tries to fly it, his arm is no longer strong enough, and the last spread shows a little girl holding a gift-wrapped box as the old man exits on the opposite page. Somewhat reminiscent of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree, this quiet book will captivate youngsters with its gentle charm.-Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Read more From Booklist Seldom has a child been so satisfied with a gift as the little curly-haired boy in this wordless story who receives an old-fashioned red toy airplane. He takes it outside and puts it through its paces until the plane gets lost on the roof. The boy’s long-term solution to the problem—and his ultimate decision about what to do with the plane once he’s recovered it—are what turn this lyrical picture book into a read glowing with warm emotion. Pett’s background in comic strips (Mr. Love and Lucky Cow) show through in the long, page-spanning imagery and his ability to convey emotion and story points through simple elements. With just a door, blades of grass, and a bird, he builds an entire world, while the gray tones of his palette create a sense of a bygone era. Without a single word, the story conveys a young child’s joy and an adult’s selfless generosity in a way that will have special appeal for quiet, thoughtful children. Preschool-Grade 2. --Jesse Karp Read more See all Editorial Reviews