Overview
Lisa's Airplane Trip is one of two titles launching the Misadventures of Gaspard and Lisa series. Lisa experiences for the first time in her life what it is like to travel on an airplane when she flies by herself to meet her uncle in the United States. The meal, movie, and other passengers provide endless amusement for Lisa—until an unfortunate accident with her orange juice. Fortunately, a very nice flight attendant makes everything better with a quick wash in the bathroom, followed by a special trip to the cockpit.
Lisa travels on an airplane by herself to visit her uncle in New York.
Synopsis
Lisa's Airplane Trip is one of two titles launching the Misadventures of Gaspard and Lisa series. Lisa experiences for the first time in her life what it is like to travel on an airplane when she flies by herself to meet her uncle in the United States. The meal, movie, and other passengers provide endless amusement for Lisa—until an unfortunate accident with her orange juice. Fortunately, a very nice flight attendant makes everything better with a quick wash in the bathroom, followed by a special trip to the cockpit.
The Christian Science Monitor - Karen Carden
Originally published in France, Lisa's Airplane Trip arrived stateside this month. C'est magnifique! It's the start of a new series about two fuzzy doglike critters, Lisa and Gaspard. In this delightful volume, Lisa tells about her first airplane ride - the seats, the food, and the in-flight entertainment. Illustrator Georg Hallensleben's art is bold and bright enough to engage kids while sophisticated and painterly enough to please adults. Anne Gutman's text is also equal to the task of amusing both child and parent. For example, after Lisa has a bit of a mishap, "the airplane lady" washes her clean and gives her a tour of the cockpit. When one of the pilots comments that Lisa smells nice, she wryly observes: "It was the soap."
The book's overall design is pleasing: It's a slim square of springtime green with little Lisa (safely buckled into her airplane seat) staring unblinkingly from the cover. Colorful endpapers teem with airplanes and airport activity. And the back displays six small pictures, which serve as a traveler's photo album and as a reader's introduction. A winner? Mais oui!Editorials
Karen Carden
Originally published in France, Lisa's Airplane Trip arrived stateside this month. C'est magnifique! It's the start of a new series about two fuzzy doglike critters, Lisa and Gaspard. In this delightful volume, Lisa tells about her first airplane ride - the seats, the food, and the in-flight entertainment. Illustrator Georg Hallensleben's art is bold and bright enough to engage kids while sophisticated and painterly enough to please adults. Anne Gutman's text is also equal to the task of amusing both child and parent. For example, after Lisa has a bit of a mishap, "the airplane lady" washes her clean and gives her a tour of the cockpit. When one of the pilots comments that Lisa smells nice, she wryly observes: "It was the soap." The book's overall design is pleasing: It's a slim square of springtime green with little Lisa (safely buckled into her airplane seat) staring unblinkingly from the cover. Colorful endpapers teem with airplanes and airport activity. And the back displays six small pictures, which serve as a traveler's photo album and as a reader's introduction. A winner? Mais oui!— The Christian Science Monitor
Publishers Weekly -
These smaller-format picture books record the vacation misadventures of two diminutive stuffed dogs, who wear tasteful scarves and behave with unusual aplomb. They are the only stuffed dogs in sight; the rest of the players are human. Lisa flies from Paris to New York on a large airplane, where her excited wiggling prompts her seatmate to move, and her small stature makes watching the movie a problem. After she upsets the orange juice glass she has been standing on and gets a bath from a flight attendant, she tours the cockpit. "You smell very nice," the pilot tells her. "It was the soap," Lisa explains. In the other book, Gaspard, tired of endless museum tours in Venice, appropriates a little red kayak and evades capture until nightfall, when he is reunited with his parents. Lisa's is the better story Gutman pays more attention to the problems of being small in a world of large people, and Lisa is conjured with real charm but Gaspard's is more impressive visually. Hallensleben's rich, intelligent oil paintings render Venice's architectural marvels in shifting shades of turquoise, terra-cotta and gold. Smaller panels convey the fast action of Gaspard's trip through the canals and his collision with a gondola. Hallensleben's work for Lisa is no less engaging; he knows what it's like to be a child with a glassful of orange juice coming straight at you. Both are winsome flights of fancy. Ages 3-6. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.Children's Literature
Young children traveling for the first time will enjoy the experiences of Lisa, a little dog who takes her first plane trip from Paris to New York. She wiggles so much that the woman sitting next to her moves; she has trouble seeing over her seat to watch the movie; she falls backwards and spills her juice. The "airplane lady" comes to her rescue, helps her clean up and takes her to visit the pilots in the cockpit. Lisa feels much better, and now they are almost ready to land. The simple text is accompanied by brightly colored paintings that show what children can expect to see and do inside an airplane. Even the food one can expect to be served is illustrated and labeled. A useful book to help prepare young children before taking their first airplane trip, and a nice book to take along on the ride. 2001 (orig. 1999), Alfred A. Knopf, $9.95. Ages 3 to 5. Reviewer: Cheryl PetersonChild Magazine
A Child Magazine Best Book of 2001 PickPart of the Misadventures of Gaspard and Lisa series, this winning tale of a self-assured dog's eventful flight from her home in Paris to New York City will delight parents and children alike. The text's understated wit plays straight man to the broader humor of the vibrant illustrations, which depict the airborne antics of effervescent Lisa with panache.