A PERFECT PAPER PLANE

Another venture in the Science Makes It Work series, this time exploring the mechanics of flight.

Gracie and Victor are paper-airplane aficionados, so much so that their teacher asks them to have a paper-airplane booth at the school’s Fun Fair. But Victor accidentally breaks his foot and misses the fair. Gracie and their friends decide to cheer him up with well wishes written on a fleet of paper airplanes that will soar into his backyard. But first, they need to figure out how to make the best airplane that will fly straight and far. They set up an experiment and learn about drag, thrust, lift, and weight. Using leftover Fun Fair flyers (reuse is appreciated), the group creates a multitude of colorful, carefully crafted planes that fly their cheery messages directly to Victor. The plot is slight, merely a vehicle to introduce the technical aspects of flight. But for young readers curious about flight, it is a start. Readers may wish to follow the characters’ examples and make their own airplanes, but there are no folding instructions other than a basic design on a small computer screen on one of the spreads. Rosa’s illustrations are pedestrian but cheery. Gracie is light-skinned, Victor is brown-skinned, and their friends are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A primer on flight that doesn’t quite take off.