(4) 4-6 Mezrich's wife coauthors this Bringing Down the Mouse sequel, in which likable numbers whiz Charlie and his fellow sixth-grade pals land a coveted spot at a paper-airplane competition in Washington, DC. The team believes it is working undercover to help NASA recover stolen moon rocks, but something more devious is afoot. Historical and scientific explanations sometimes awkwardly pause the otherwise swiftly moving plot.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(3) K-3 First Facts: My First Guides series. After a brief introduction explaining folding symbols and outlining materials, simple stepped directions for nine different paper airplanes are accompanied by colorful, easy-to-follow pictures, making these "lazy afternoon" projects pleasingly accessible to early readers. Boxes with "flying tips" explain how to launch the planes, each uniquely shaped to fly a bit differently than the others. Reading list.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo

(1) K-3 A boy and his caregiver fold a paper boat, then he pretends to sail it outside. After a downpour, the boat floats for real--into a sewer grate. Once comforted at home, the boy soon ventures out again with a paper airplane, this time embracing the moment his creation is set free. With a limited palette, each wordless scene is full of reflection, shadow, and texture.

Reviewer: Elisa Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2015

(3) K-3 A boy feels alone on a crowded playground until he creates a paper airplane "friend" upon which he imagines flying. Satisfyingly, he makes a real friend when a girl returns the plane. Reynolds's lyrical, dreamy text and his simple pen, ink, and watercolor illustrations touchingly portray the boy's painful isolation, then his joyful companionship.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(3) K-3 When the forest animals notice that some trees are missing branches, they launch an investigation. Meanwhile, readers will spot a bear sneaking around with an ax, then see a flyer tacked to a tree advertising a paper-airplane competition. The story's details are so funny (especially the sight of otherwise normally proportioned animals with stick legs) that the respect-the-land message goes down easy.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(3) 4-6 Schmidt offers directions and blueprints for eighteen sharp-looking fighters carefully modeled on historic planes ranging from the 1915 Fokker monoplane to the 1980 Panavia Tornado. Relevant military history keyed to each plane and general information about flight accompanies the clear (though difficult) plans and photographs of the models, all of which can be made from standard index cards. Reading list. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Jack Botermans. Photographs by Jack Botermans. Instructions for making a wide array of paper airplanes ("Fantasy Flyers," "Genuine Reproductions," "Anti-aircraft device") are provided in this book. The enticing photos and diagrams lend visual appeal, but they probably won't clarify the complicated directions for most readers. Ind.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(4) 4-6 Although it overworks the word incredible, Schmidt's generously illustrated how-to book will fascinate interested readers. Instructions for making twenty-one small model flying machines out of cardboard, from da Vinci's ornithopter to NASA's space shuttle, are clear and painstakingly detailed. However, such construction is for the skilled and patient only, requiring photocopying, using a craft knife, and precisely aligning small parts. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Frieda F. Bostian