Books & Literature

Book Review: The Little Red Airplane, by Heather May-Warren

A toy airplane is rescued and restored but must put aside self-doubt if he’s to save the day by finding Mother Hen’s missing chick on the farm.

Adelaide children’s author Heather May-Warren has drawn up a delightful book for the young’uns which teaches us that we all have a place in our world and self-doubt doesn’t have to mean defeat.

In May-Warren’s world, humans, toys and farm animals communicate, forming a mixed, supportive family. Young Elly finds a broken toy airplane while on a picnic with her human family. She restores the plane to its former glory and names him Red.

Before long, Red is enjoying life on the farm until one day, Mother Hen’s chick goes missing. Red is forced to put aside his self-doubt and use his flying skills to find and rescue the baby bird.

While poor colour contrast and a scrawling font combine to make the text difficult to read at times, The Little Red Airplane is a sweet tale that young children are sure to love. Random words written in a larger font or a different colour add excitement to the visual design of the page. This is complemented beautifully by the bright drawings revealed with each turn of a page. They’re an absolute joy and offer lots for parents to point to and discuss with their kids.

The thick, glossy pages make the book durable, while the short length and full-page images make it a quick read, well within the attention span of the target audience.

Reviewed by Rod Lewis
Twitter: @StrtegicRetweet

Rating out of 10:  7

Released by: Austin Macauley Publishers, available through amazon.com.au
Release Date: July 2017
RRP: $5.75 eBook through Amazon. A paperback version is available through the UK Publisher.

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