Several of the books I have read deal with a friend moving a serious distance. And Paper Planes starts off as that kind of story. And like In a Jar by Deborah Marcero the solution is a lot simpler than our child narrators feel is possible.
In Paper Planes by Jim Helmore, Mia and Ben are best friends who do everything together. And while they like watching the geese fly, and swinging together, they love making airplanes and hope someday to make one that will fly across the lake they both love. But of course, something changes their plans and Ben must move away. The two will learn how to stay friends and do some of the things they love to do in a new and special way.
The artwork of Richard Jones is whimsical, fantastic, cartoon and realistic. It is modern and sets the softer tone for the text. The colors are not overwhelmingly colorful, but they do pop and give you notice that there are a lot of goodies to see. First published in the UK, this book does have a slight old school feeling to it. And one of the fun illustrations is a mail truck that is very American in style.
And I will not forget that I mentioned In a Jar by Marcero. This book is about Llewellyn (a rabbit) and his friend Evelyn (also a rabbit) who enjoy collecting the extraordinary things of their lives. The feathers, sunsets, and more fill their jars. But when Evelyn moves away, they must figure out how to share the wonders they experience with each other. A cute ending introduces a little surprise for our bunny friend Llewellyn.
And I came to find In a Jar because a new book by Marcero has been published about Llewellyn call Out of a Jar. We are now getting to have fun with his emotions. Or not so much fun as he has found a new way to use his jars. And while these two books are companions, you do not need to know the other to enjoy either. In this picture book, Llewellyn does not know how to deal with the emotions they are feeling, so he hides them away, packing them so tightly down that one day, of course, things explode. And we find ourselves with one burned out bunny!
Of course, the adult reader knows that things will work out for our group of characters, but there is enough tension for the five and up crowd to wonder what will happen next?