Little Plane

Toddler-PreS-Following up on Little Truck and Little Boat, Gomi charms with the latest adorably anthropomorphized vehicle, an intrepid single-engine plane who's learning to fly. Little Plane takes off on a beautiful day but runs into some trouble when flying through gray smoke and landing in dirt ("Uh-oh. Now you're dirty, Little Plane!"). The narrator—identified by bolded text underneath Little Plane's own simple, declarative statements—offers encouragement ("You're fine, Little Plane!), much the way a loving caregiver would. Almost all the characters—the control tower, the trees, the houses, even the pile of dirt—are humanized with smiling faces. Little Plane is an ideal stand-in for toddlers and preschoolers learning to make decisions and problem-solve.