Little Plane: (Transportation Books for Toddlers, Board Book for Toddlers)

by Taro Gomi

Overview

Little Plane is learning to fly! When you're small and on the go, there's a lot to watch out for: tall trees, muddy hills, and more! With wings aloft, Little Plane keeps flying, weathering the bumps along the way with his initiative, confidence, and positive attitude. This colorful follow-up to Little Boat and Little Truck by beloved author-illustrator Taro Gomi is a must for toddlers launching upward to big adventures!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452174501
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	03/12/2019
Pages:	22
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 5.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Taro Gomi is an internationally renowned author and illustrator who has created more than 400 books for readers of all ages, including the award-winning Over the Ocean and Bus Stops, I Know Numbers!, My Friends, Spring Is Here!, and I Really Want to See You, Grandma. He lives in Tokyo, Japan.

Editorial Reviews

"Little Plane is raring for adventure." —Kirkus Reviews

"Little Plane is raring for adventure." —Kirkus Reviews

"I don't just recommend this new book but ALL of his books - they're kid-friendly wonderfulness." —Imagination Soup

"I don't just recommend this new book but ALL of his books - they're kid-friendly wonderfulness." —Imagination Soup

From the Publisher

07/01/2019

Toddler-PreS–Following up on Little Truck and Little Boat, Gomi charms with the latest adorably anthropomorphized vehicle, an intrepid single-engine plane who's learning to fly. Little Plane takes off on a beautiful day but runs into some trouble when flying through gray smoke and landing in dirt ("Uh-oh. Now you're dirty, Little Plane!"). The narrator—identified by bolded text underneath Little Plane's own simple, declarative statements—offers encouragement ("You're fine, Little Plane!), much the way a loving caregiver would. Almost all the characters—the control tower, the trees, the houses, even the pile of dirt—are humanized with smiling faces. Little Plane is an ideal stand-in for toddlers and preschoolers learning to make decisions and problem-solve.

School Library Journal

2018-12-22

A rough-and-tumble little plane explores the world.

Zooming about, bright fuchsia and gray against jade-green sky, Little Plane is raring for adventure. Gomi perfectly encapsulates the plane's essence with simple shapes and chunky black outlines and still manages to make Little Plane look light and airy. Like most youngsters, Little Plane encounters turbulence while playing, getting dirty and bouncing back from several failed attempts at landing atop trees or on a slick, muddy mountain. This initial narrative, of getting messy and resiliently getting up after failing, is ideal for toddlers, especially with the narrator and warmly personified trees, buildings, and rocks watching over and admonishing the aircraft to "be careful" or to "try again." Unfortunately, the narrative veers away from this smooth flight path when the plane spots a cream-colored building with a cavernous gaping mouth and ponders entering. The narrator's strangely ambivalent statement that "it's up to you, little plane" isn't especially reassuring, and it looks disconcertingly as though Little Plane is being eaten. As our hero emerges, mysteriously clean and ready to fly home, puzzled readers will wonder what happened—is there such a thing as a plane wash? Additionally, ending the story before the return to the safe embrace of a loved one makes it feel unfinished; his journey isn't over yet.

Visually, there's much to enjoy, but ultimately the narrative never quite soars. (Board book. 1-4)

Kirkus Reviews