Planes : And Other Things That Fly

Children's Literature - Adele Mujal

This book has six brightly colored pop-ups, each with a different kind of action. The first one is a hot-air balloon that leaps at you as you open the book. Several of the pop-ups extend above the page when opened; it's quite a dramatic effect. The only words are identifications of the flying machines, but the uncluttered scenes invite verbal interaction between readers and nonreaders. There is no need for any manual action besides turning the page. This book will appeal to very young children, but they will need to be supervised or they will just pull the space shuttle right out of the book.

School Library Journal

PreSThis colorful series of sturdy, square books features impressive paper engineering. A tow truck lifts a car, a tugboat tows an ocean liner, a bulldozer pushes earth, and a helicopter's rotor twirls. The cast features expressive faces with skin shades from white to pink to brown to blackthe moving man pushing the piano into the truck looks appropriately distressed, as do the rowers in the rowboat. The bold, bright illustrations with heavy black outlines are reminiscent of the work of Byron Barton; they will work well with young audiences. Must-buys for libraries that include pop-ups in their collections or for use in preschool storyhours.Lisa Falk, Palos Verdes Library, CA