Air Show! by Treat Williams

Air Show! by Treat Williams, illustrated by Robert Neubecker

Rating: 4 stars

I am sure that Mr. Williams is a genuine chap, but...I kinda wish that there were fewer words in this book.  Because the illustrations are where it's at!  They are amazing!  Seriously, if you've got a little kid in your life who enjoys airplanes just a bit, there is no way you can pass up this book.  It is FANTASTIC.  Even with all those words.  What did the author think, that a story was required to accompany these images?

The story, I'm obligated to tell you, tells the story of Ellie and her brother, Gill; they go to the air show with their dad.  He takes them there in his plane, upping his cool factor a few points.  They check out lots of planes and Ellie even finds a stunt plane, with a female pilot, onto which she climbs for the ride of her life.  Then they fly home.

In doing my normal google search about a book, I found Robert Neubecker's blog.  On it is the story of how this book came to be.  Basically, the author met Neubecker at a book party for Wow! City! and said, "Hey, I've got some cool planes I can take you up in if you draw pictures for a book idea I've got."  Ok, that's not exactly how it happened.  But close. I do love about it is that Neubecker himself admits that he got into the details of the planes maybe a little more than the author intended.  I'm super glad he did that.  Check out these illustrations:

I'm thinking about getting the book just for this image.  I want to laminate it and set it out in front of Ben.  Maybe I'll put it in a cardboard box with cardboard wings.  I know Ben would sit in front of it for 15 minutes straight or more, pressing all the buttons and moving the controls up and down and, of course, making the appropriate sound effects that correspond with those buttons. Maybe I'd take this laminated sheet on our next airplane ride.  I know I'd embarrass my husband but that never stopped me before!

I love this one.  Lorelei and I could spend 10 minutes on this page, talking about the different parts of the plane, the number of planes, which ones are flying, which one her favorite is, which one we've seen before, why there's a pin up girl on one of them...well, maybe I wouldn't point that out.

And, as an Army brat, I love this one, too.  I guess it's fair that the Air Force has the big one...I guess.  But how cool that they are all labeled (in case the little reader has officially become obsessed and is no longer content with calling them "the silver one" or "the red one")! 

Seriously, this book is just COOL.  I think it will be part of the small collection of book we get our nephew for his birthday.  I do wish that I could give separate ratings in this case, because the illustrator gets a high 5 and the author, well, maybe his editor should get a lower score.  I wish that there were just fewer words so the pictures remain the high point.  That said, who needs to read them anyway?