What Makes It Go Work

I still have my '70s copy of this book, and my daughters (5 and 7) now like it too. While some items are out of date -- the 8mm movie camera, the rotary phone, the record player and reel-to-reel home tape deck -- most hold up surprisingly well. Cars and televisions and pianos haven't fundamentally changed much, after all. My girls are as mesmerized by the cartoon cutaway view of the ocean liner as I was when it was the first thing I learned to read by myself 30 years ago. If only the introduction didn't suggest that people and dinosaurs lived together. :)

Some of my earliest memories are of poring over the great cutaway illustrations in this book. If your child has an inquisitive mind this will set it off and running. The only drawback was that I wanted more detailed information right away, so be ready with some issues of Popular Mechanics or something if your child really takes to this book.

While the information in this book is somewhat dated (published in 1971) it contains good cut-away pictures and explanantions of basic everyday methods of transportation (boats, planes, cars) as well as telephones, rockets, etc. that are easy to understand for the younger child (not toddler). My children thoroughly enjoyed this book when they were growing up and I am replacing their worn-out copy for my grandson who is also enjoying it.