LOUIS’ DREAM PLANE
by Terry Milne and illustrated by Terry Milne
Assorted flying machines adorn the endpapers and will propel young aeronautics fans right into this high-flying story of friendship. The playground discovery of a model Gypsy Moth biplane transports Louis into the pilot’s seat for an imaginary buzz around school. A dull classroom lecture is interrupted by a flurry of activity in which Louis realizes the plane belongs to one of his classmates. Fleeing school with the plane, Louis continues his imaginative piloting; italic texts describe the imagined scenes and reality is written in smaller regular typeface, while clouds of windblown dust create a visual demarcation in the illustrations. Soon Louis feels guilty about keeping the plane and asks his mum to help return the plane to its owner, Charlie. In doing the right thing Louis finds that Charlie is a kindred spirit and the boys take to the skies together. The message is certainly meritorious, but the execution is pallid (literally—Milne uses a muted palette throughout) next to such vigorous explorations of the same topic as Holly Keller’s Horace’s New Toy (2000). (Picture book. 5-8)