On This Airplane

by Lourdes Heuer, Sara Palacios (Illustrator)

Overview

A story about coming to a new home and the diverse people you meet on an airplane. For fans of Last Stop on Market Street.

On this airplane . . .
 
Someone travels solo,
two travel as one,
three return
and four set out.
 
In this simple and moving book, a young family takes a plane to their new home. While onboard, they encounter all the people you meet on a plane: a bookworm, a businessperson, tourists, crying babies and daydreamers   . . . all with their own stories and all heading somewhere special.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735268616
Publisher:	Tundra
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	AD510L (what's this?)
File size:	11 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

LOURDES HEUER is a children's book author (Esme's Birthday Conga Line) and poet. She was born in Spain to Cuban immigrant parents, then moved to the United States in 1984 — on an airplane! She holds an M.F.A. in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and is an Associate Professor of English at Broward College. She lives in South Florida with her husband, son and three dogs.
 

SARA PALACIOS is the recipient of the Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Award for her work on Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match and has illustrated many picture books for children. Sara earned her B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees in illustration from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco where she lives with her husband.
 

Editorial Reviews

"A calm, informing pre-flight primer and an engaging book to pack to ensure a smooth trip." —Kirkus Reviews

"[A] close observation of each passenger’s story arc reveals a temporary community shot through with optimism and good cheer. . . . This thoughtful, human portrait of air travel will make an unusual and resonant addition to all collections." —School Library Journal

"Digitally finished gouache and cut paper drawings by Palacios are filled with personality and compositions that revel in the cabin’s spaces, including the precious sliver of air between seats. Air travel may not always be glamorous, but the creators’ affection for it is evident and affirming in this book that makes the journey the primary story." —Publishers Weekly

"Clever text describes the sights and sounds of flight routines and dramas, while also offering hints regarding who is who on the illustrated manifest." —Cooperative Children's Book Center

From the Publisher

09/01/2022

PreS-Gr 1—A biracial family of four sells their home in preparation for the move to a faraway city. Their means of transportation is an airplane, where their journey intersects with the paths of many other travelers, each with a unique identity and purpose. Heuer gives us glimpses of these characters with well-crafted descriptive phrases ("a bookworm reads a textbook," "a sleepyhead awakens") amid evocative sensory language ("ice crystals bloom," "Drinks drip drop"). Palacios lovingly fills in the details of these thrown-together voyagers, the cool tones of the mixed-media illustrations summoning an unexpected depth of characterization from brief impressions throughout the flight. To be sure, the familiar irritants of air travel (noise, crowding, uncertainty) are all present. But a close observation of each passenger's story arc reveals a temporary community shot through with optimism and good cheer. A young boy flies on his own with the kind supervision of a friendly flight attendant. A man who initially jostles a woman's snacks by reclining his seat later offers her a stick of gum, and they leave the plane chatting happily together. A woman working busily on her laptop loses her sticky notes during turbulence, but a fellow passenger gathers them and hands them back in a neat pile. Certain abstract phrases ("someone in the service of work that is important," "two travel as one," "Someone lends an ear") may require explanation from an adult, but they should serve as valuable opportunities for observation and discussion. VERDICT This thoughtful, human portrait of air travel will make an unusual and resonant addition to all collections.—Jonah Dragan

School Library Journal

2022-09-14
An intro to airline travel, from boarding to landing.

Step onboard and join a young family that is relocating as they travel in a plane flown by a brown-skinned pilot “living her dream.” Some passengers are just beginning their journeys; others are returning home. Each spread begins with the phrase “On this airplane,” followed by a description of passengers or activities. Caregivers and educators reading this tale aloud should allow extra time for children to match details in the illustrations to the information in the text and perhaps discuss personal travel plans. Readers will enjoy finding the sleeper and daydreamer, the busy laptop user and the soldier, a young solo traveler, and a soon-to-be mother (“two travel[ing] as one”). The images don’t show anyone wearing seat belts, so adults may want to remind future travelers to do so. Later spreads describe the sounds of takeoff; passengers help each other cope with turbulence, offering a familiar hand to hold (a previously self-centered, seat-reclining traveler proves thoughtful, giving another passenger a piece of gum). Passengers land, deboard, and move through the terminal to meet friends and retrieve luggage; the story closes with the family reaching their new home. Detailed illustrations created with gouache, cut paper, and digital media depict a group of passengers diverse in terms of age and race; the family includes a brown-skinned parent, a lighter-skinned parent, a brown-skinned child, and a tan-skinned baby. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A calm, informing preflight primer and an engaging book to pack to ensure a smooth trip. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews