Joining the author and illustrators' previoustitles in the Things that Go! series, this picture book features rhyming text and animated, whimsical art that will delight young would-be jet-setters. Each page zooms with busy planes: a cargo plane filled with circus performers, a bunny-driven crop-duster, a few military planes, a vintage-style banner-puller, and even miniature model planes that whiz and buzz. . . . The ending, which brings the activity level down, is equally well suited for storytimes or bedtimes: Planes fly North, South, East, and West. They do their jobs./Then they rest. The lively, descriptive prose, often playfully arranged on the page, incorporates peppy sounds that amp up the energy that's echoed in the vibrant illustrations. Original drawings, clip art, maps, and etchings blend in rich color and textures and invite scrutiny with diverse perspectives, layouts, and playful little details: a fish-piloted hydroplane; a ram in a jumbo-jet window seat; and, finally, planes snoozing in their hangar at the book's close. An engaging presentation of the ever-popular subject.

PreS-Gr 2 Airplanes soar off the pages in this introduction to flying machines. Descriptive, rhyming text is succinct, straightforward, and instructive. Planes of different sizes, with different engines and with different purposes, glide, turn, dive, and race within the artwork. While there are many picture books about airplanes, this one's illustrations set it apart. Halsey and Addy's intermixing of etchings, drawings, and clip art results in changing settings for each plane. Most pages are spreads that run horizontally; a couple of them are printed vertically. Details such as a pirate plane, a bunny crop duster, an outline of the Statue of Liberty, and Santa invite closer inspection. This title is a fine selection for one-on-one sharing, especially with aircraft fanatics. Lynn K. Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Richfield, OH