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On This Airplane

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A story about coming to a new home and the diverse people you meet on an airplane. For fans of Last Stop on Market Street.

On this airplane . . .

Someone travels solo,
two travel as one,
three return
and four set out.

In this simple and moving book, a young family takes a plane to their new home. While onboard, they encounter all the people you meet on a plane: a bookworm, a businessperson, tourists, crying babies and daydreamers . . . all with their own stories and all heading somewhere special.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2022

About the author

Lourdes Heuer

11 books11 followers
Lourdes Heuer is a children's author, poet, translator, and college professor.

She holds an MFA in Writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts and is Associate Professor of English at Broward College.

She currently lives in South Florida with her husband, son, and many dogs.

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5 stars
42 (34%)
4 stars
49 (39%)
3 stars
28 (22%)
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3 (2%)
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1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Stephanie Tournas.
2,461 reviews30 followers
November 18, 2022
Finally, a new book for kids about travelling by airplane! And, it's a beautiful one. Readers see a biracial family with two kids get on a plane. They join a wonderfully diverse group of passengers - young, old, alone, together, happy, nervous. Each one is drawn with so much personality. It's really fun to watch them throughout the flight, whether they're reading, crying, spilling their drink or just sleeping. The lovely, lyrical text relates the sounds, sights and 'feels' of the experience, and Palacios's gorgeous mixed media art is the perfect complement. It's great that she shows friendly passengers and flight attendants treating each other with respect. The phrase, "On this airplane, there is someone..." repeats throughout, and readers will enjoy finding the "someone," such as the person who "travels solo," or the "two [who] travel as one," or the "bookworm."

This stellar collaboration really goes a great job of showing what the experience will be like, including the turbulence and even the ice crystals on the window. When the plane touches down and the passengers disembark, readers can find each passenger and see who greets them. The family who got on the plane at the beginning arrives home. This is a great new resource for new air travelers, and it's also a lovely interactive read for everyone else. I think it's got Caldecott potential.
632 reviews4 followers
October 3, 2022
If you have ever been on a plane, you will know that they can be scary and/or stressful for kids. Even more so when a family is moving far enough away that they must take a plane. This sweet gentle book describes the ups and downs (no pun intended) of flight travel, and how for a brief time, a community can be formed while all the passengers take a trip on an airplane. I think that we sometimes forget that everyone has a story and a purpose to where they are going, and by showing it in this little book it is a good way to teach and remind children (and adults) to have a little empathy. There is also a bit of search and find to the book, as parents can encourage kids to find which person is doing what the text describes.
Profile Image for Mariana Ríos.
Author 3 books30 followers
October 11, 2022
This is such a beautiful book! Lourdes Heuer's words flow nicely, with simplicity and warmth, while the wonderful illustrations by Sara Palacios do a great job in complementing the storytelling. It's truly a perfect match!

I appreciated the diversity shown inside the plane and how the story covers different moments and situations that are very common when flying, but that sometimes might get overlooked because of their simplicity. I really loved seeing the child's perspective in what she notices and what catches her attention during the flight. It makes me want to observe better next time I get on a plane.

This was a very relatable story for me and one my daughter also enjoyed very much.
961 reviews11 followers
January 4, 2023
A young family takes a plane trip as part of their move to a new home. Using limited vocabulary and illustrations full of action, we learn about the plane trip. The author describes in a few words the other passengers, what it looks like out the window, what sounds the children might encounter on the plane. Sara Palacios has created some very nice illustrations, which add to the completeness of the story.

A good book to remind each of us to care about our neighbors and to cut everyone a little slack. This would be a great read-aloud for pre-schoolers or early grades, or any child getting ready to take a plane trip.

I received a copy of this book from the author, Lourdes Heuer and LibraryThing, in exchange for a review.


Profile Image for MookNana.
847 reviews8 followers
October 18, 2022
The story loosely follows a family as they take a plane trip to a new home. They meet all sorts of people on the flight, all traveling for their own reasons. There's a nice spirit of tolerance and camaraderie among the passengers as they deal with minor mishaps/annoyances of travel and enjoy the upsides, like new faces and new friends. The illustrations are lively, colorful, and full of fun detail for kids to examine. This would be a great book to prepare kids for air travel, but also just a fun adventure to follow along and celebrate our wonderfully diverse human family.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!
Profile Image for Kathy.
3,104 reviews7 followers
January 4, 2023
At first read, this is a slightly more realistic/complicated depiction of what an airplane ride is like. The written list of things going on in the airplane invites kids to find those things happening in the pictures. On second read, all those things are still going on, but you notice that the main family isn't just traveling for fun but to a new home far away, making it much more bittersweet. The adult reader can then talk with their child listener about why a family might move far away. Because of the complexity of the pictures, this wouldn't be good for a storytime. If the pictures are blown up big, though, it might be good as a discussion prompt for older kids.
Profile Image for Brittany.
2,438 reviews4 followers
June 9, 2023
I read this book as an adult reader for the AR Diamond Book Award. This book shows travel on an airplane from the eyes of a child. This is the perfect book to read to any child preparing to go on an airplane for the first time, travel anywhere (even if they've flown before), or even to a child traveling by air to move to a new place. It is a very diverse book with TONS of different characters from all walks of life. Loved it! The illustrations are also fabulous. It almost feels like a Look & Find book at times. You read the words and then try to find which passenger it is. It's fun all around.
Profile Image for Amanda Sanders.
645 reviews1 follower
November 17, 2022

This book takes readers on an airplane trip through the eyes of a child. As the child sees things on the plane, readers and listeners can find what the child is talking about in the illustrations—almost like a seek and find book but with way more plot. On the plane, people meet and share and cry. There is a little sarcasm about putting a seat way back that you can only understand by studying the illustrations. It’s a very fun book and it has a second small theme at the end. It’s also a book about moving.
Profile Image for GK Bancroft.
85 reviews1 follower
October 12, 2022
This book has beautifully illustrated sketches as illustrations. The illustrations were colorful and the pages of the story were not crowded or busy. My toddler enjoyed glancing at the pages illustrations. The story was brimming with diversity and had a wonderful balance of text and picture. Like all picture books should, you needed the text and illustrations to fully grasp the storyline. I loved the story of the journey from the perspective of a child.
Profile Image for Erin Buhr.
Author 5 books37 followers
November 19, 2022
I'm in love with this gorgeous picture book. The story is a simple one - a family gets on a plane full of people to fly to their new home. It is the interplay between the lovely, lyrical text and the detailed illustrations that makes it picture book magic. Kids will love spotting the different people mentioned in the text and reliving all of the familiar parts of flying. It is quietly powerful, gently illustrated and one you can read again and again. One of my favorites of 2022.
Profile Image for Liz.
2,010 reviews23 followers
March 24, 2023
On this airplane, like most airplanes, you see all different people who are traveling for different reasons, and they all get along despite the bumpy ride. (It's unrealistic in 2023 when you see videos of people getting escorted off planes for unruly conduct.) It would be a good introduction to read to toddlers and preschoolers before a plane ride. Also a fun, slightly interactive toddler storytime.
Profile Image for Dan Simonsen.
85 reviews
November 14, 2022
Fun and Simple book that shares the experience of flying. Pictures on every page. Makes a great bedtime book. Would also be a great book to help prepare little ones for flying on an airplane. The illustrations are well done with several done in such a manner to also serve as a picture search.

Full faith in advertising: I received this book as LibraryThing early reviewer's copy.
Profile Image for Terry Jennings.
Author 17 books31 followers
September 29, 2022
What an amazing book. On Lourdes Heuer’s Airplane, we see human beings and we laugh and feel warm and good. Nothing exciting, nothing earth shattering, yet so universal. It is a beautiful story, made even more meaningful by Sara Palacios’ illustration. Absolutely a must have.
Profile Image for Alexandra Alessandri.
Author 6 books96 followers
October 9, 2022
This is a beautiful slice of life portrait that wonderfully touches on community, albeit temporary, within an airplane. Lourdes Heuer's text is so lyrical and Sara Palacios’ art is just lovely. This will make such a sweet readaloud at home and at school!
648 reviews10 followers
February 12, 2023
Simple yet profound and so beautiful. The vocabulary is concise and rich with meaning and implication. The art tells its own story. This is possibly the most beautiful simple book about the deeply complex and emotional process of travel and change and relocation that I am likely to ever see.
Profile Image for Diane.
7,243 reviews
July 23, 2023
“On this airplane, there is a pilot living her dream, one passenger daydreaming and another fast asleep.”

The journey of airplane passengers is poetically described as they travel together to a new destination. The illustrations tell the larger part of the story.
3,161 reviews18 followers
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November 9, 2022
I was confused. I think the pictures and words didn't line up. I couldn't follow who they were talking about.
74 reviews
November 13, 2022
I received this book to review. It is a cute children’s book. I know mostly everyone that has flown before can relate to the occurrences on this plane ride. The graphs are nicely done as well.
Profile Image for Nessa.
525 reviews6 followers
December 8, 2022
Cute! Good way to help calm a child down by showing them what is expecting on a plane.
Profile Image for Susan  Dunn.
1,996 reviews
March 30, 2023
"On this airplane there are many people to meet before any of them arrive at their final destination. A touching, gentle tale of expectations, travel, and immigration" (Betsy Bird)
Profile Image for Sarah Sammis.
7,597 reviews245 followers
December 17, 2022
A poem about a long flight and everyone on it.

The poem doesn't sugarcoat the flight. Nor does it try to magic flying seem magical, though it does offer the possibility that it can be. It also, though, shows difficult it can be. It can be uncomfortable, scary, irritating, boring. What makes a flight special, easy, comfortable, etc, is the people on board: flight attendants, crew, passengers. It's people being good and caring to others that makes a flight, or any other even, a good thing.

Illustrator Sara Palacios fills the plane with a diverse group of people. Even the main family appears to be a blended, multi-ethnic one.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2022/comm...
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews

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