Brightly colored pictures of mostly vintage airplanes will attract young aviation enthusiasts. The realistic illustrations are of excellent quality with meticulous detail and a wide variety of backdrops. A paragraph of text describes the plane featured on each page. --School Library Journal From the AT-6 to Zero (the nickname of a Mitsubishi A6M fighter plane), the featured planes illustrate variations and developments in aeronautical design. Realistic illustrations and informative, informal text take readers on a whirlwind tour of flying machines. --Publishers Weekly An ABC book powered by aircraft, B is for B-17, H for Hercules Flying Boat, J for barnstorming, loop-the-looping Jenny, M for the dogfighting Messerschmitt, R for Lindbergh's Ryan, the Spirit of St. Louis. Each airplane is given a solid little history that evokes the personality of the craft (while the fighting planes featured might raise hard questions about wars and why they're fought). Pallotta and Stillwell cover the gamut, from Orville and Wilbur Wright's planes, planes that land on water and those that take off vertically, experimental jets, and ultralights. They also explain various technical terms: hangar, fuselage, cockpit, control tower, etc. Bolster's accompanying artwork is paintbox bright, suffusing the planes with character and purpose. --Kirkus Reviews