The Airplane Alphabet Book

by Jerry Pallotta, Fred Stillwell, Rob Bolster (Illustrator)

Overview

Let your imagination take flight!

This fact-filled book features planes from A to Z, including the Aviation Trainer Six, the Electra, and the Zero. An high-flying tour of the alphabet and a history of flying machines the Wright Brothers to hobbyist's model airplanes.

Learn which type of plane is best for a dogfight, see the type of plane Charles Lindbergh flew in the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic, and much more. From the first flight of the Wright Flyer in 1903 to the age of jets, Rob Bolster's vivid illustrations will send you soaring through the skies in this dynamic celebration of flight.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780881069068
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	07/28/1999
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	88,185
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 10.93(h) x 0.11(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jerry Pallotta is an award-winning author of children's alphabet books and imaginative fiction. His books combine interesting facts, detailed research, humor, and realistic illustrations that mesmerize children everywhere. Jerry lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Fred Stillwell is an avid "pilot" of remote-controlled airplanes, often flying them with his grandchildren. He enjoys playing golf near his home in Georgia.

Rob Bolster built and flew model airplanes for a number of years. His interest in flying radio-controlled aircraft helped when he illustrated The Airplane Alphabet Book, written by Jerry Pallotta and Fred Stillwell, and The Jet Alphabet Book, also written by Jerry Pallotta. Rob lives in Walpole, Massachusetts.

Read an Excerpt

The ability to fly is one of mankind’s greatest achievements. For thousands of years, people have watched birds and wondered what it would be like to fly and to see the earth from above. People wished they could magically travel long distances in a short time or go over mountains without climbing or cross oceans without sailing on a long voyage. Many clever people attempted to fly in various contraptions over the years. Some tried balloons and some tried gliders. Finally, on December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina, Wilbur and Orville Wright flew the first “airplane.”

Since the invention of the airplane, people can now fly.

Editorial Reviews

Brightly colored pictures of mostly vintage airplanes will attract young aviation enthusiasts. The realistic illustrations are of excellent quality with meticulous detail and a wide variety of backdrops. A paragraph of text describes the plane featured on each page.
—School Library Journal

From the AT-6 to Zero (the nickname of a Mitsubishi A6M fighter plane), the featured planes illustrate variations and developments in aeronautical design. Realistic illustrations and informative, informal text take readers on a whirlwind tour of flying machines.
—Publishers Weekly

An ABC book powered by aircraft, B is for B-17, H for Hercules Flying Boat, J for barnstorming, loop-the-looping Jenny, M for the dogfighting Messerschmitt, R for Lindbergh's Ryan, the Spirit of St. Louis. Each airplane is given a solid little history that evokes the personality of the craft (while the fighting planes featured might raise hard questions about wars and why they're fought). Pallotta and Stillwell cover the gamut, from Orville and Wilbur Wright's planes, planes that land on water and those that take off vertically, experimental jets, and ultralights. They also explain various technical terms: hangar, fuselage, cockpit, control tower, etc. Bolster's accompanying artwork is paintbox bright, suffusing the planes with character and purpose.
—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

"Realistic illustrations and informative, informal text take readers on a whirlwind tour of flying machines," said PW. All ages. (June) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Just as counting books do more than teach numbers, ABC books teach more than the alphabet. This alphabet book offers a convenient way to organize material and explore a subject or a culture. The alphabet is incidental to Pallota's colorful and informative look at everything from freshwater fish, bugs, flowers, and frogs and his newest which covers airplanes.

Children's Literature - Children's Literature

K-Gr 4Brightly colored pictures of mostly vintage airplanes will attract young aviation enthusiasts. The realistic illustrations are of excellent quality with meticulous detail and a wide variety of backdrops. A paragraph of text describes the plane featured on each page. The fact that this is also an alphabet book is almost secondary. For example, B is for B-17, E is for Electra, M is for Messerschmitt, but few of the planes have any markings that associate them with a specific letter. It is unclear as to why, between Q and R, two pages are devoted to the crash of a remote-controlled model airplane. This is a good, but strictly additional, choice for browsing or one-on-one sharing with an adult.Eldon Younce, Harper Elementary School, KS

School Library Journal

An ABC book powered by aircraft. B is for B-17, H for Hercules Flying Boat, J for barnstorming, loop-the-looping Jenny, M for the dogfighting Messerschmitt, R for Lindbergh's Ryan, the Spirit of St. Louis. Each airplane is given a solid little history that evokes the personality of the craft (while the fighting planes featured might raise hard questions about wars and why they're fought). Pallotta and Stillwell cover the gamut, from Orville and Wilbur Wright's planes, planes that land on water and those that take off vertically, experimental jets, and ultralights. They also explain various technical terms: hangar, fuselage, cockpit, control tower, etc. Bolster's accompanying artwork is paintbox bright, suffusing the planes with character and purpose.

Kirkus Reviews