Plane Song

If you have a budding airplane lover, or simply a toddler or preschooler who loves bright illustrations and a lilting rhyme, you can't go wrong with this book. I have seen many books about airplanes because my 3 1/2 year old seek out everything we can find on the subject. This book is exceptional. The illustrator is a liscensed pilot and does an excellent job of capturing the magic of airplanes in flight. The style is realistic, but not photographic. There is a delightful variety of colors, perspectives, and lighting, and the intricate detail in some of the illustrations invites you to take a good long "drink" with your eyes. What knocked me over with this book, however, is the fantastic poetry. This is no amateurish rhyme. The words flow easily off your tongue as you read aloud to your child. The text is arranged on the page without punctuation (no capitalization either except for the words Mach and Navy), which adds to the readability and the artistry of the page. Each page is devoted to a particular type of plane, although they are described by what they do, rather than by their specific names (e.g. "sly planes, spy planes" on the page showing a SR-71 Blackbird). The information that has been unobtrusively incorporated into the rhyme avoids simple classification of airplanes by name. In fact the names of the planes aren't part of the text. Instead, the focus is on what different planes do and all the different places you will find them. This isn't done in a dumbed down way. My son already knows the names of many of the planes illustrated and delights in identifying them. We didn't need another catalog of planes, so this book fills an empty niche in our library. This book is unique among those I've seen so far in that it beautifully introduces youngsters to airplanes and draws them into the magic of flight while satisfying "veteran" plane loving kids with references to what they already know. I can't say enough about it.

Like so many of our children's favorites, this book sweeps the reader off in lilting rhyme, and is beautifully illustrated with very accurate paintings of a host of different types of aircraft: huge jets, crop dusters, commuter planes, tail draggers, etc. The book truly engenders enthusiasm and appreciation for the magic and diversity of flight. My husband and I both are pilots, and found it a wonderful way to introduce our young twins to the excitement of aviation. My only reservation is that the illustrations depict male pilots only!

After having enjoyed sharing Train Song, by Diane Siebert, with both my toddler and my husband, I looked forward to reading Plane Song. Siebert delivers again with Plane Song! Words take flight in fanciful form, illustrating through language the poetry of planes in flight. The beautiful paintings by Vincent Nasta stir the imagination of readers young and old. Because of the perspective of each painting, the reader feels as if they are flying, too. From jet planes to bombers, fire-fighters to bush planes, crop dusters to "rag bags," the lyrical sound of Siebert's words read aloud invites readers to "spread their wings in flight." Plane Song is an excellent choice for young readers or plane fanciers.