The title intrigued me, and the first few chapters, if a bit surreal, feature a quirky, quite likeable man - forty-something Mr Planemaker who is retired from work due to ill health, and wants to build a model aeroplane. Then it all goes downhill..

There are a lot of names with puns, one or two of which made me smile, but the story as a whole is inconsistent, repetitive, and over-detailed. It's also very dated, technology-wise, but that's understandable in a book published about fifteen years ago.

Supposedly for children, it touches on a couple of significant issues, but without any real resolution. And the characters are so flat that I didn't much care what happened to them. I really wouldn't recommend it.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2024/03/mr-planemakers-flying-machine-by.ht... ( )

This is, approximately, the worst thing I've read. Hard to believe it's published--it's the sort of thing that your brain-damaged cousin, who fancies herself a writer, might have turned out over a weekend and pressed into your hands with a plea to read it. It is, however, a prime candidate for reading-and-ridiculing a la Mystery Science Theatre, if there's a market for that. On its own merits, though, it's a tosser. ( )

DNF. Poorly pitched agewise, plot inconsistencies, overly clever punny names pointed out far too many times in case the reader is not smart enough to have gotten them (we are), stereotypical and flat characters that seem to have come out of an Enid Blyton novel.

Full review @booklikes ( )