Last year, Musa went on his first airplane ride as a toddler. The flight was to Bangkok and it was the first time that he would be away from me for several days. Although like all boys, he loves airplanes and anything with wheels (the garbage truck included!), I wasn't sure how he was going to take to his first experience flying in an airplane.
So I bought a couple of books explaining about airplanes for us to read together many weeks before his holiday trip with his aunt and grandparents. One of them was The Noisy Airplane Ride by Mike Downs.
This particular airplane book shares the experience of a little boy who is taking an airplane ride with his parents to see his grandmother. What I like about this book is that it prepares the child for all the noises he is going to hear on the airplane. I've travelled by flight and even I get nervous hearing all the unfamiliar sounds on board!
Each page is filled with rhyming text and "sound words" like "ding" (the seatbelt sign warning), "clunk" (wheels up), and "thud, thump, shuffle, stomp" (all kinds of footsteps).
The nature of the book makes it quite fun to read in an active way and encourages kids to get involved in the reading as well. I would exaggerate the sounds loudly and Musa would follow suit, and we'd crack up laughing. Or I'll make a certain sound and ask him "What's that?" and that's the chance for me to point to the pictures and explain where the sound is coming from.
It's a great book to prepare for the flight a child is about to take and is an opportunity to discuss all the things that happen in a flight -- the turbulence, the importance of wearing seatbelts, etc. -- and the appropriate behaviour inflight.
The book can also be read on-board the flight so the child will hear the actual sounds and relate it back to the book.
There is a 2-page spread at the end of the book with a picture of an airplane which provides more information about the different parts of the airplane.
We're taking this book out for another read this week because Musa will be flying off to Singapore this weekend!
The Noisy Airplane Ride
Written by Mike Downs
Illustrations by David Gordon
Published by Tricycle Press
ISBN: 9781582461571
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