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Planes Go

written & illustrated by Steve Light

Chronicle Books      8/12/2014

978-1-4521-2899-3

Age infant to 2     16 pages

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“The helicopter goes, ‘PITTATATATA PITTATATATA PITTATATATATA.’ The jumbo jet goes, ‘Wheeeeeeeee VRRRRRRRRRRUUUHHHHHHHHHMMM.’ The propeller plane goes, ‘HUK HUK HUK WHIRRRRRRR WHIRRRRRR.’ Prepare for liftoff with 8 exiting aircraft and the noises they make in this irresistible board book! The long, oversized format lends itself to the shape of the vehicles and stands out on the shelf, and the boisterous text begs to be read aloud.”

Opening

“The helicopter goes, PITTATATTATA PITTATATTATA PITTATATTATA”

Review

Planes Go will thrill any young boy—and girls, too—who love airplanes, and what child does not? You can sound just like a propeller plane, helicopter, or a blimp, entertaining your youngster as these different flying machines burst from the pages. The pages are extra thick for little hands that sometimes play rough. If jelly from that PB&J slips out from the bread, maybe landing on the supersonic jet, not to worry. The jelly, and most other kid substances, will wipe off the sturdy, glossy board book.

In addition to Planes Go, the series includes Trucks Go, Trains Go, and Diggers Go. The illustrations are colorful and full of the sounds each machine makes as it rumbles through the sky. There is a seaplane, helicopter, propeller plane, fighter plane, blimp, supersonic jet, and the space shuttle. Wherever you want to go, there is a plane to take you there. Read through the book once, adding your best plane imitations with help from the author and your child can take it from there. By the way, those airplanes sounds are examples of onomatopoeia. Brr, swish, whoop, wizz are also examples of onomatopoeia. When you try to imitate the sound anything makes, like a slithering snake, “Ssssssss,” you are using onomatopoeia.

I have a nephew who, when he was two-years-old would have fought me for this book and would want the other three books in the series. He loved cars, trucks, planes, scooters, and anything else that had power and moved. Planes Go, and all the other in the series, will ignite your youngsters imagination as the planes and helicopters take off for places only your child knows. These books are a great way to introduce curious young minds to the vehicles he or she is likely to see when traveling.  The book is longer than normal to accommodate the elongated bodies of many planes. I think this is a great series and youngsters will love the planes and the sounds each one makes, especially if it is mom or dad making those sounds.

PLANES GO. Text and illustrations  copyright © 2014 by Steve Light. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

Here is an Onomatopoeia Dictionary

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Purchase Planes Go at Amazon—B&N—Book Depository—Chronicle Books—your favorite bookstore.

Learn more about Planes Go HERE.

Meet the author / illustrator, Steve Light, at his website:    http://www.stevelightart.com/

Find more board books at the Chronicle Books website:    http://www.chroniclebooks.com/

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Also by Steve Light

Trucks Go

Trains Go

Diggers Go

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(review HERE)

Have You Seen My Dragon?

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Boats Go (2/01/2015)

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Individual flying machine.

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This is my first illustration for Monday Art, you can see some of my other work here! Saludos a todos los que se divierten dibujando, AMBA :) {Click to see the larger image}.

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Flying stone.

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The new challenge is:

Flying Machines!

Illustrate your idea of a Flying Machine. Zeppelins? Gliders? WWII bombers?

All of the other challenges challenge are over. The new challenge is "Flying Machines" and ends on May 17, 2010. The "Favorite Food" challenge comes in a week late but ends on May 10, 2010.

I was away from Monday Artday since March 29 (6 weeks) for surgery and recovery but now I'm back and healthier than ever. Let's whip this place into shape! :)

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I have been reading many, many picture books lately. Both for review and for a presentation that I am giving later this week. As a result, I have been thinking about picture books and tweens. There are many picture books that are perfectly suited for tweens...especially those with out of the ordinary non-fiction themes. Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle is just one of those books.

Cromwell Dixon was a kid who loved to invent things. From a rowboat with extra oars, to a mechanical fish made out of clocks, Cromwell's imagination ran wild. He read all that he could about the inventions of the day, but he was especially captivated with the flying machines. Cromwell had been up in a hot air balloon in 1904 and by 1907, fourteen year old Cromwell decided that he wanted to be an aeronaut and began to build his own flying machine.

Now, many inventors have parents who do not support their passion, but Cromwell was very lucky. His mother supported him 100%. His design was based around his bicycle. He rebuilt it so that pedaling meant that propellers would turn and turning the handlebars would make the rudder in the back go left or right. Cromwell's mother sewed up a grand silk balloon that would support the bicycle and its rider!

A tragic set back would probably have made many teens give up, but Cromwell and his mother started sewing again, and he was convinced that his new design would be even better than the last.

Tweens will be captivated with this story about the original "balloon boy". Cromwell is an example of resilience embodied and his stick with it attitude is inspiring to us all. John Abbott Nez's illustrations perfectly set the tone of the time, and readers will pour over the details of the air ships and the blueprints. At the end, there is a mini-biography titled, "This is a True Story" that gives readers a bit more detail.

Why not consider some picture books for the tweens in your life?