pwbalto's review against another edition
5.0
Some books do so much with so little. No words here, just a little boy and his toy airplane, and a tree, and a series of curious and observant birds, barely noticeable. White and black watercolor with a few dabs of red, on fibery, newsprinty paper in all shades of unbleached. Lots of little touches have kept me paging back and forth in this lovely, spacious marvel. If I found Inside Outside a little busy (forgive me), The Boy and the Airplane is the antidote.
readingthroughtheages's review against another edition
4.0
Sweet story about a young boy who loses his treasured airplane. How he gets it back is sweet and unexpected. I like the connection of the end of the story to the beginning.
ajacks's review against another edition
5.0
I support independent bookstores. You can use this link to find one near you: http://www.indiebound.org
leslie_d's review against another edition
3.0
This text-less picture book begs for a quiet moment in which imagination might take flight. And yet, it also invites proper sound effects and zooming about with our own pretty red airplane. The Boy and the Airplane reads like a silent film of old if they were played like the comics drawn at the time (ala Little Orphan Annie). We are its accompaniment until, well, even the boy grows silent after his plane becomes stranded on the roof–his mouth literally disappears.
The story begins with a boy receiving a gift and in a lovely sequence takes it out to play in the company of a bird. At first he runs with the plane, then becomes the plane, and then sends the plane off for a solo flight. Once the plane lands out of reach on the rooftop, the boy makes several creative attempts to retrieve it. The most creative–and unexpected–attempt is alternately dumbfounding and delightful. I’m still not particularly sure about it as it stretches that delayed gratification model a bit far. Perhaps it is more on patience and how some clever solutions take time. And maybe the results are not ours to enjoy. In the end, the gift given is the gift a little boy-turned-old man can pass along to the next generation. –Just as a gift had been passed on to him at the beginning.
The soft greens, blues, and browns of the backgrounds compliment the tone, line-work and deep color-washes. It is a very contemplative, forward-dwelling book at odds with the prevailing ‘for me!’ candy-colored stories. The Boy and the Airplane is tinted with nostalgia in a palatable, accessible way (to those like myself who are rarely giddy at the mention of ‘nostalgia’) and is sure to be of interest to plenty. It would be a good read for any quiet moments proceeding a morning or afternoon out of doors. It has enough energy in the renderings that I wouldn’t recommend it for a night reading as it not only celebrate the quietly expressive, but full-body imaginative play.
L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/a-quiet-flight-a-tree/
The story begins with a boy receiving a gift and in a lovely sequence takes it out to play in the company of a bird. At first he runs with the plane, then becomes the plane, and then sends the plane off for a solo flight. Once the plane lands out of reach on the rooftop, the boy makes several creative attempts to retrieve it. The most creative–and unexpected–attempt is alternately dumbfounding and delightful. I’m still not particularly sure about it as it stretches that delayed gratification model a bit far. Perhaps it is more on patience and how some clever solutions take time. And maybe the results are not ours to enjoy. In the end, the gift given is the gift a little boy-turned-old man can pass along to the next generation. –Just as a gift had been passed on to him at the beginning.
The soft greens, blues, and browns of the backgrounds compliment the tone, line-work and deep color-washes. It is a very contemplative, forward-dwelling book at odds with the prevailing ‘for me!’ candy-colored stories. The Boy and the Airplane is tinted with nostalgia in a palatable, accessible way (to those like myself who are rarely giddy at the mention of ‘nostalgia’) and is sure to be of interest to plenty. It would be a good read for any quiet moments proceeding a morning or afternoon out of doors. It has enough energy in the renderings that I wouldn’t recommend it for a night reading as it not only celebrate the quietly expressive, but full-body imaginative play.
L (omphaloskepsis)
http://contemplatrix.wordpress.com/2013/11/29/a-quiet-flight-a-tree/
fairislemeadow's review against another edition
5.0
Simple yet evocative illustrations. Unexpected plot turn. Surprisingly complex for a picture book!
vaderbird's review against another edition
4.0
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
court_re's review against another edition
4.0
This book instantly got an extra star when I read on the very last page, "For Tiffany, who was worth the wait." And that's just the last page!
This is a charming little book. There are no word to read, so you have to let the illustrations speak for themselves. I always get excited when a book is like this because when I'm reading books to kids I don't actually have to read it to them (heheh), and I've always felt when it comes to picture books and graphic novels if they're using a lot of narration instead of using the illustrations to tell the story than they're failing at how the book is supposed to tell the story.
When the boy's red airplane gets stuck on the roof of a house he tries different ways of getting it down. Failure after failure, he decides to plant a tree near the house. At this point it initially gets a little depressing (yes :(, depressing) as he has to wait years, and years, and years for the tree to grow tall enough for him to climb up it and retrieve his long lost airplane. However, he seems to be perfectly content and happy to finally have it back despite his old age. So it's all good.
Now, I too, am thinking why he didn't just ask an adult to help him. He certainly would have had his airplane back much sooner. That brings me back to what was said on the last page.
This is a charming little book. There are no word to read, so you have to let the illustrations speak for themselves. I always get excited when a book is like this because when I'm reading books to kids I don't actually have to read it to them (heheh), and I've always felt when it comes to picture books and graphic novels if they're using a lot of narration instead of using the illustrations to tell the story than they're failing at how the book is supposed to tell the story.
When the boy's red airplane gets stuck on the roof of a house he tries different ways of getting it down. Failure after failure, he decides to plant a tree near the house. At this point it initially gets a little depressing (yes :(, depressing) as he has to wait years, and years, and years for the tree to grow tall enough for him to climb up it and retrieve his long lost airplane. However, he seems to be perfectly content and happy to finally have it back despite his old age. So it's all good.
Now, I too, am thinking why he didn't just ask an adult to help him. He certainly would have had his airplane back much sooner. That brings me back to what was said on the last page.
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
4.0
Wordless picture book with a message that is stronger for adults than for children.