Planes

by Byron Barton

Children explore the many ways we use airplanes, from seaplanes to crop dusters to planes that write messages in the sky. With simple text and vibrant illustrations, readers will learn about transportation by plane. Byron Barton's Planes "will delight the youngest, and have enough meat for older preschoolers and beginning readers."—Kirkus Reviews

Supports the Common Core State Standards

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Transport, Aeroplanes, Travel, Juvenile

34 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1986

About the author

Byron Barton is the author and illustrator of many picture books for young children. He has been honored by ALA, SLJ, and Reading Rainbow. He worked as an animator for CBS before he started creating children's books. He is currently making his illustrations completely on the computer.

Reviews

[Meg]

Been our 11 month old’s favorite book since week one. We read it at least 2x a day, sometimes 5 or 6x in a row............ not annoying at all haha! Had to order a new one for his birthday since ours is basically in shreds.

[Ash]

A simple book, but a favorite of my toddlers’ class!

[Renee]

Very nice little book for young children who are fascinated with planes.

[Danielle]

The Turkeybird Speaks: "Now this is the part where I tell you to pull up a chair and your favorite snack so you can settle into a great book. Does it really get any better than trucks, planes, and trains? I would say not! They move, they have wheels, they go fast and they do all sorts of fun things. I especially liked reading my plane book when we traveled cross country to our new home. It was neat to look out the window and see the same sky that I was looking at in my book. These books are a must have for every home. Go get them!"

Mom's Two Cents: "I have to agree with The Turkeybird and the publishers summary. We initially purchased the Trucks book when he was very little and it instantly became a favorite. Now that he is quite a bit older (at least two years have passed) he still picks them out of our full bookshelf. As he mentioned, we traveled by plane this last summer to move from the DC area to California and the Planes book was a huge hit! There are images of people getting on and off planes in the book and because of the small airport we initially left from, we were able to get aboard the plane just as they did in the book, which he loved! And though you would think these books wouldn't appeal to girls, even The Littlebug picked the Plane book out yesterday as her book of choice.

"Now, onto the technical side of the book. What I, as a parent, really like about these books are the simple text and straight forward images. It's not going to be the most beautiful book on your shelf, nor will the words be drawn out and elaborate, but it still holds an entertainment and educational value I can't deny. Each page has between 3 to 5 words with a simple illustration demonstrating the text. For smaller kids it can often times be overwhelming to have a book filled with words and dramatic images, but these books though not elegant are still captivating. I highly recommend these books for beginning readers and even for older children who may need a respite between larger, more complicated books."

[jacky]

Dec 2011 - Not as good as the book on trucks, but a great selection for a young child who loves planes or is about to go to the airport.

May 2013 - William asks for this book most nights now that we have it out from the library. For the next several weeks, the preschooler story time theme is transportation. Last week was planes, and though the librarian did not read this title, she had it out for kids to take home. William enjoys Trains and Boats, so I quickly grabbed this for him. I had forgotten that this existed since our library doesn't have it in board book, and that is usually where I browse for William.

[Rachael]

Adorable. My son is obsessed with airplanes and I thought he might enjoy this one. I don't think he's made the connection that the thing that he excitedly points at in the sky is the same thing in this book so I want to try this again when he's a little older. I really enjoyed the illustrations though and look forward to trying this again.

[Asho]

We checked out four Byron Barton Books recently (Planes, Trains, Trucks, Boats) and of the four my son finds this one the least appealing, although I couldn't tell you why. He still likes the illustrations and likes reading it to himself, but of the four it's the one he's least likely to pick out to study.

[Joan]

Young readers explore different aircraft and the jobs they do. Some are crop dusters; others carry people. Some write messages in the sky. Do you know all the jobs that airplanes can do?

A board book for the very young; bright, colorful illustrations accompany the simple text. With a Lexile level of 280L, many beginning readers will enjoy reading this book themselves.

Recommended.

[Rob]

You get pretty much what you expect. "Plane! More planes... More of the same." It's fun (as the adult) to add some sub-text re: "this plane looks like a Southwest flight" and/or how the crop-duster flew over the cows that made the milk advertised by the plane on the next page.

[Paula]

Very simple book that would great for the little ones, might even have to skip a couple of pages. Could work for pre-schoolers. Bright illustrations.
Brief text and illustrations present a variety of airplanes and what they do.

[Dewey]

Great, simple book for a storytime on airplanes, although as the wife of a helicopter pilot, I can't help but object to the inclusion of helicopters...separate kind of aircraft, guys! Write a book called Helicopters!

[Connor]

My son is 2. He likes seeing the boats repeat on the next page, and the different types. We read this, Planes, and My Bus together.

The book is dull, but has cute illustrations, which do a good job showing the parts of the boats, even though the text doesn't say much, it allows for elaboration.

[Amy]

Nice book about planes. Lots of people of various ethnicities and genders.

[Ingrid]

once read this to toddler 18 times in one day. You decide... is that good? or bad.

[Allison]

Alex's current favorite book!

[Hayacynth]

allison is my best friend in the school and her cellphone is broken and her 1 best frien too is my classmate koreen

[Ashwini Pandey]

Great book, gives the day to day struggles with invention of flight in general and Wright brothers in particular. Highly recommended for those of us who still get fascinated by the airplane.

[Amy]

not as good as trucks or machines but still captivating eye candy planes.

[Maura]

May 24 2013

[Rosie]

Just got my son into this and he seems to really like it.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023)]

2* art
3* story

Provides lots of opportunity to talk about planes - aside from the text itself.

[Bonnie Tesch]

I really appreciate that the illustrations of people include diverse ages, apparent genders, and skin tones (in pilots as well as passengers). It's a cute, very simple book.

[Cuatro Silva]

You got this book from your cousins.

[The Book Box]

Mama read this to me the other night. I love planes right now!

[Emily]

I think this is a good book to teach kids what we use airplanes for and about them in general very good book.

[A Allen]

I am asked to read this book often. It isn't my favorite; I find it dull. But the kids love it and that is most important.

[Kalynda]

Great preK-1 book about airplanes, the different types, and their different functions.

[Jon Nakapalau]

Great first book on the different kinds of airplanes there are - great for any aspiring little pilot!

[McGee Lapish]

Make sure to ask kids to look for all the little hidden objects!

[Terri Zumbahlen]

Basic text on the basics of airplanes. Good for preschoolers.