Sebastien Braun

It's off to the skies as the excitement of flying on an airplane hits the pages as important aspects of the adventure are explored.

This is a cute board book for the youngest travelers or airplane enthusiasts out there. Starting in the terminal, a bunch of animal friends are waiting to board. Step by step, the general aspects of flying are presented and that in an enjoyable, light way.

The illustrations are bright, cheerful and hold tons of details for little listeners to explore, either while the story is being read or on their own. The text works well for a quick 'story' and fits the age group. It adds to the details in the illustrations to explain certain aspects of flying. Together, the two help little readers have a slightly better idea about what to expect when flying, but it doesn't go into too many details, either. And airplane fans will find themselves dreaming of flying themselves.

The flaps and such add a little more fun and hold small surprises, which fit each situation and illustration. These are created with smaller hands in mind and do take a bit of abuse. I picked up a DRC through Edelweiss and enjoyed this book quite a bit.… (mehr)

First sentence: All aboard the baby train. We're going on a ride today1 All aboard the baby train. The whistle sounds--we're on our way! All aboard the baby train. Up the hill--very slow. All aboard the baby train. Over the top and down we go!

Premise/plot: This one is an interactive board book with activities for little hands to manipulate on each spread.

My thoughts: The text isn't much--to be honest. The interactive elements, however, are so much better than the text itself. I could see the interactive elements "saving" this one and making it a good choice for little ones that love trains. Again, the text isn't the high point of this one. Most of the interactive elements work for me. The one that I don't quite love--I'm an overthinker--is the train in the tunnel that moves SIDEWAYS. I get that they want a hide-and-seek element perhaps. But trains don't hop off and on tracks like that!… (mehr)