Grades 5-8--The author of Best Ever Paper Airplanes (Sterling, 1995) and several titles of similar ilk offers diagrams for 21 stylized but recognizable models of historical aircraft, about half of which will, at least potentially, fly. Often composed of dozens of pieces, the aircraft are not folded, but glued and laminated. Each one comes with an introductory essay; one to three pages of pattern pieces designed to be photocopied, pasted to card stock, and cut out; an "exploded view" to aid assembly; and a color photo of a neatly finished model. Readers get little help with decorating their work, and inexperienced craft-knife wielders may find Didier Boursin's Origami Paper Airplanes (Firefly, 2001) one of several safer choices. Still, this introduction to flying machines, spanning as it does nearly 500 years of history, from da Vinci's ornithopter and the Montgolfier brothers' balloon to the Goodyear blimp and the space shuttle, will give practiced young model builders plenty of challenging projects.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.