Paper Planes

by Jim Helmore, Richard Jones (Illustrator)

Overview

Mia and Ben are the very best of friends. They live side by side at the edge of a great, wide lake and together they sail, and swing, and sing. But the thing they love the most is making paper planes. They dream of one day being able to make a plane that will fly all the way across the lake, and their planes become more and more intricate... 

But one day: terrible news. Ben's family are moving far, far away. How can Mia and Ben stay best friends if they are so far apart? And how will they ever realise their dream of making a plane that can fly across their lake?

Find out in this moving, lyrical story of friendship and flight.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781471173875
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
Publication date:	05/16/2019
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.02(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

Jim Helmore has written several picture books. He works in the licensing industry and loves to grow vegetables in his spare time. He lives in England.

Richard Jones grew up in Leamington Spa before moving down to Devon to study illustration at the University of Plymouth in Exeter and never went home again! After finishing his degree, he stayed on to complete a PhD. While working on his thesis he got a "temporary job" in Exeter's Central Library and somehow found himself working there for more than ten years. When not at his desk he enjoys bobbing about in the sea, swimming in rivers, walking in woods, listening to audiobooks on the bus, and petting the cat. He now works full time as an author and illustrator.

Editorial Reviews

2019-12-22
Can a friendship survive an overseas move?

This is the story of Mia and Ben, two friends who grew up in side-by-side houses and enjoyed the same hobby: making paper airplanes together. One day, however, Ben's family must move far away. Losing a friend due to a move can be very challenging, and the ordeal can sometimes feel like a great betrayal. Such is the case for Mia, whose friendship with Ben is tested severely; her feelings volley between hurt and anger, only to be soothed by dreams about meeting Ben again. One day, however, she receives a pleasant surprise in the mail: Ben has built a plane halfway and now seeks her input for completing the remaining half. She happily obliges. In this touching, sparely written story about friendship, author Helmore makes the best out of a difficult and potentially traumatic experience—a separation. While the story, enhanced by Jones' symbolic, beautifully chalky illustrations, has a bittersweet beginning, it has a positive and uplifting ending. Parents and educators will especially appreciate how the protagonists' feelings are depicted in a realistic and convincing manner—and the validation that sadness and anger are OK. The book's inspiring ending makes it a good resource for children experiencing separation issues. Mia has brown skin and black, bobbed hair, and Ben presents white; their shared neighborhood appears to be in rural North America.

A beautiful and sensitive treatment of a common childhood experience. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews