Little Plane Learns to Write

April 17, 2017
Certain letters often bedevil those who are new to writing. For Savage’s newbie skywriting hero, it’s O: “loopity-loops made him dizzy.” His flight instructor, a stern gray plane, won’t let Little Plane off the hook: after all, without O, words like “cloud” or “rainbow” are just fluffy letters hanging in the sky. But Little Plane finds his inner grit, and using a gorgeous full moon as a kind of practice track, he masters his Os and becomes a first-class writer. The story feels more slight and rushed than Savage’s previous vehicular-themed books: Little Plane’s big turning point gets barely a beat in the narrative before he’s circling the moon, and there aren’t as many of the jazzy, streamlined environments that usually make Savage’s books such a visual treat. But the moonlit scenes add real romance and drama to the final pages, and like the stars of Little Tug, Mixed-Up Truck, and Supertruck before him, Little Plane is an enterprising hero who radiates eagerness and energy. Ages 3–6. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates.

April 15, 2017
At flight school, Little Plane learns skywriting by practicing "arcs, dives, and loopity-loops." But the last present a particular problem for him, as the circling maneuver makes him dizzy.Little Plane avoids this by eliminating the O's in words that include them. When his instructor reviews his work and sees the words "CL UDS" and "RAINB W," the sleek gray plane questions Little Plane, "Where's your loopity-loop?" Writing seems to be too hard for Little Plane. But at nighttime, Little Plane tries again, circling slowly and carefully around the moon and accomplishing this feat twice without getting dizzy, thus perfecting his loopity-loop and successfully completing his skywriting class. Two-dimensional digital art portrays simple, child-friendly aircraft with broad, round-edged lines and anthropomorphic features; their bold colors stand out over patchwork rural and blocky urban scenes against a varying cerulean sky. The uncluttered, clean layout perfectly accommodates the one-sentence-per-page dialogue-driven text. The book's endpapers feature the alphabet in skywriting form and can double as a simple alphabet primer, while the theme of persistence to succeed will be encouraging for little ones with aspirations to get things right. A well-designed winner for ambitious little pilots. (Picture book. 3-5)

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May 1, 2017

PreS-K-Little Plane is excited to start flight school, where he's learning how to skywrite. He practices his dives and arcs, but he just cannot get the hang of his loopity-loops. Little Plane tries and tries until he declares, "Writing is too hard." After trying one more time, he carefully flies around the moon and makes a perfect loopity-loop without getting dizzy. This simple story is geared to very early readers and writers. For children who like planes, it could be a favorite. The graphic-style digital images are simply drawn, with a palette that includes the primary colors of the ground and the blues and grays of the sky. VERDICT The lesson to keep trying until you succeed is a good one for fledgling readers and writers, and the crisp, engaging artwork will keep storytime audiences engaged.-Peggy Henderson Murphy, Wyandot Elementary School, Dublin, OH

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2018
Little Plane must learn to fly in a circle so he can write in the sky. It's dizzying, but he perseveres and practices, and eventually he gets it. The theme is hard work, but Little Plane's success seems more magical than earned. The aesthetically pleasing, cleanly rendered digital illustrations give the planes personality, and sky-written words add some visual whimsy to the pages.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)