Flight 1-2-3: Maria van Lieshout

Book: Flight 1-2-3
Author: Maria van Lieshout (@msvanlieshout)
Pages: 40
Age Range: 2-5 

Flight 1-2-3 by Maria van Lieshout is an airport-themed counting book. A brief introduction explains: "This book will take young readers on a tour of the iconic airport and in-flight sounds found around the world." The font used for the minimal supporting text is a font that was specifically commission for an airport in 1968, and has been used widely ever since. 

Flight 1-2-3 is visually appealing, with digitally generated images created with a limited color palette (yellow, black, red, white and blue, to match colors used in the common airport signs). The book follows a family (mother, father, and son) as they arrive at "1 Airport", use "2 Luggage carts", etc. After the "10 Gates", closing pages count ahead, with "100 Fastened seat belts", and numbers showing the plane's altitude and flight distance. But the bulk of the story works as a counting book for the numbers one to ten. 

There's an old-fashioned feel to some of the illustrations. The ticket agents, shown as white silhouettes with no faces visible, wear tidy little red hats and scarves. But the security details are clearly up-to-date, with "5 Trash cans" accompanied by signs showing five of the things that are forbidden on modern flights. There are tiny hints of humor, as when the father and son wait at the end of '8 Men" for the restroom, and the son crosses his legs uncomfortably. 

But the humor is pretty mild. Flight 1-2-3 works primarily as a counting book with a kid-friendly theme and pleasing, mildly abstract illustrations. I expect Baby Bookworm *who has already spent far too much time in airports) to love it. Flight 1-2-3 is a good choice for home or library use for the toddlers and preschoolers. It's solidly constructed, too, with stiff pages. It's almost a cross between a board book and a picture book. So it should hold up well to multiple readings. Recommended. 

Publisher: Chronicle Books (@ChronicleKids)
Publication Date: March 12, 2013
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher

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