I'm Flying!

A little boy floats away on his balloon across mountains, plains, cities, and the sea, until he lands on a desert island.

Kindergarten-Grade 2-- The gift of weather balloons and the helium to float them up sets a bored suburban boy off on a wacky, wish-fulfilling adventure, reminiscent in some ways of both Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are (Harper, 1988) and Yorinks's Hey, Al (Farrar, 1986), but without their power or sense of mystery. Wade's hero first sends "up and away" things he hates--math book, Sunday shoes, dog and cat, teacher--until he gets an undeniable urge to travel and floats off himself. Up he goes--through storms, over cities, over flat yellow fields. At last, he sets down on a lush tropical island where--surprise--he finds everything he had sent away. These objects, plus the island's amenities, save him from feeling homesick and provide a very pleasant life ("I decided to stay."). But when a balloon bearing the message "Come Home, Son" arrives, the boy remembers dinner and heads happily for home. The book's quirky humor arises from the complimentary coupling of the deanpan narration and Mathers's flat primitive style. The two-dimensional look and the skewed perspectives reinforce the tone of the text, as if the boy were illustrating the story as he told it. Tongue-in-cheek details in the pictures add visual depth and interest. Fun but not essential. --Linda Boyles, Alachua County Lib . District, Gainesville, FL
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A boy attaches his math book to a helium balloon and watches excitedly as all his problems drift out of sight forever. This pneumatically inspired solution works well in eliminating other sources of disturbance in his life, and many things have disappeared over a period of time, including the boy's pesky dog and cat, his uncomfortable Sunday shoes and even his teacher, Miss Follendorf. The boy's father is suspicious, and asks, "Where the heck is everything disappearing to?" One day the boy takes a trip in a lawn chair festooned with 16 balloons and lands on a faraway tropical isle where he observes his teacher doing the hula on the beach. The theme of banishment and its resolution is imaginatively worked out in this quirky, inspired tale. The rather unusual plot and jocular style make this an excellent choice for the older picture book reader. Mathers's colorful paintings have a rustic, almost folk-art charm that translates curiously into a visual sophistication perfectly attuned with the advanced text. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.