Show-How Guides: Paper Airplanes: The 11 Essential Planes Everyone Should Know!

Show-How Guides

by Keith Zoo, Odd Dot

SHOW-HOW PAPER AIRPLANES is a primer for curious minds with a clear, fun graphic style that invites any kid to get started flying.

This pocket-sized 101 includes a curated collection of 11 essential plane models. Every step is illustrated, allowing kids to easily master the basics, regardless of how they learn.

Readers will learn to fold and fly paper airplanes including the dart, the eagle, the harrier, the v-wing, the hammer, the boomerang, the trickster, and more.

SHOW-HOW GUIDES offers visual, step-by-step introductions to skills that every kid should know―from hair braiding and paper airplanes, to drawing animals, pumpkin carving, gingerbread houses, and more! Whether you’re a second grader learning to make friendship bracelets for the first time or an adult looking to master the art of knots, these comics will give you the skills you’ll treasure through childhood and beyond.

48 pages, Paperback

Published August 25, 2020

Reviews

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! I think this is a super cute book! With 11 different ways to craft a paper airplane, this little pocket book is worth checking out. For $5.99, you can’t beat it. The size of the book is 4-1/8 by 6- 7/8 and about 1/8 thick. There are a few in this series and they are new.

Providing step-by-step, detailed directions, they explain how to create these paper airplanes from a v-wing, to a crosswing, to a helicopter, just to name a few. With each instruction, you get a rating on each on their speed, airtime, distance, acrobatics, and uniqueness, from one bar to four bars. Some planes take 1 page of directions and one takes 5. There are some tips at the back of the book to try and some MODS (modifications to mix things up on your paper airplanes). So, is this complicated? No, it’s pretty straight forward. The directions are simple to follow and I liked how they shaded things and dotted things to make things less complicated. What do you need: paper, ruler, scissors, and paper clips and off you go. There is a Table of Contents and tips on how to be successful at the beginning of the book. This book is a fun one to have and make sure you check out the other ones in the series.

[Baby Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally written for The Baby Bookworm. Visit us for new picture books reviews daily!

Hello, friends! Our books today are two titles from Odd Dot books’ and Keith Zoo’s Show-How Guides series: Egg Decorating, written by Renée Kurilla and illustrated by Zoo, and Paper Airplanes, written and illustrated by Zoo.

Using simple, step-by-step instructions and illustrations, and with occasional interjections by two adorable “dot” characters, young crafters can learn the basic techniques of and unique applications for each guidebook’s subject. In Egg Decorating, readers can learn how to hard-boil eggs, as well as dye, paint, and decorate them, and even how to use the eggs once they’ve been spiffed up. In Paper Airplanes, readers can learn how to make eighteen different types of paper gliders, each ranked by qualities like speed, airtime, and distance.

Neat! These pocket-sized guides do a great job of introducing the bare bones of each craft, then expanding on that information to include ways for each young maker to express their own creative flair. Safety and cleanliness notes in Egg Decorating will be especially appreciated by adult readers, like asking for help with boiling eggs or reminding kiddos to put down newspaper before working with paint and dye. The visual design of the instructions, line drawings laid out in numbered panels, makes instructions very easy to follow. Only two small complaints: one, the design of the books themselves make them VERY hard to lay or prop open, sort of a necessity when using as reference while one’s hands are full. And two, the tricolor scheme within the books limits their ability to express variation in design. Otherwise, these are neat little guidebooks, and would be great gifts for creative young bookworms. Overall, we liked them, and they’re baby bookworm approved!

(Note: A copy of this book was provided to The Baby Bookworm by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

Be sure to check out The Baby Bookworm for more reviews!

[Erin Buhr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compact, simple, but a complete how to guide for paper airplanes. Throw this little bag and the short list of supplies into a book and you have an easy activity to take anywhere. The directions are straightforward enough for a beginner, but there is enough variety to engage a more seasoned paper airplane maker as well. We enjoyed that they include a rating for each airplane's speed, airtime, distance, acrobatics, and uniqueness. It was fun to test them all and see how they compared for us. A great stocking stuffer, travel book, or just fun book to pull out when you need to fill some down time.

[Jasmin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learn to doodle cute alphabets.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a full library program (or afternoon with bored kids) in a book.