Hello, friends!
It’s time for another edition of Kidskel & Weebert. Our small panel of small people has assembled to review this week’s selection, which is the descriptively named Wind-Up Plane Book [With Toy Airplane] by Usborne.
As the name implies, and as you can see in the lower right-hand corner, there is a tiny, wind-up airplane included in the packaging.
Call it a bribe or call it an inventive add-on, the plane endeared itself to our reviewers instantly.
So much so that it’s hard to know whether to call this a “book review” or a “book-with-added-toy-inducement review,” but we’ll proceed and see how this thing shakes out.
Onward to the commentary
Our young critics took a moment to gaze pensively at the pages.
At which point, they launched into statements of opinion.
Alden: I like it, because all the plane drawings look really cool. The windows look pretty awesome and they look kind of like water drops. And I like how the conveyor belt is made. It looks kind of cool, and the suitcases look really creative. But my favorite part? Where is it? Where is it?
Alden ruminates silently.
Kato turns the page.
Kato: I like this one…because I like that the plane moves around all over the place on the track. I like that part. It’s cool .
[In case you cannot tell, the book’s pages are grooved, allowing the wind-up plane to follow a track in great loops across the spread.]
[This is delightful to small people. This is delightful to their father, who is trying to remain impartial, as his opinions are irrelevant here.]
Kato traces the track with his finger.
Alden: And the food looks good on the plane.
Kato: I love this page more!
Alden: And this is my favorite page because it shows all the land on this side of the Earth.
August: (unprompted) Blabala. Nenmuama. Nen. MMMMnnn. Wheee. Nmmmmeee.
Me: Do you have to go to the potty, Aug?
August: Nah! Nah! (translation = “I sure do!”)
The assessment?
Alden: Two double hands thumbs up!
Kato: Thousands!
Alden: Infinity!
Robbi: You mean it’s the best book you’ve ever seen, ever?
Alden: (somewhat defensively) No!
Alden: I actually give 100 thumbs.
Kato: Well, it is my book.
August: (tracing tracks with his finger, apparently not well enough for Kato’s tastes)
Kato: Augie! You have to stay on the tracks!
Alden: I like all the things about the book.
Kato: I like it all.
Alden: (now on the trampoline on the other side of the room). Actually. I want to exercise my body. One, two, three, four, five….etc).
And there you have it.
Fleeting moments of drifting opinion and sibling conflict aside, this book was enthusiastically recieved by the peanut gallery.
Here’s how you find it: Wind-Up Plane Book [With Toy Airplane] by Usborne.