Mighty Machines

"Mighty Machines" would make a great family Christmas or Winter present! There is a wealth of information about machines, their history, early forms, evolving forms, current forms, uses, styles. I bought this book as a Christmas gift for my great-nephew, but I think I may have to go back for one for me. It is fascinating! Here's what I mean: Chapter one: Racing machines Chapter two: Ships and Submarines Chapter three: Cars Chapter four: Trains Chapter five: Motorbikes Chapter six: Trucks and Diggers Chapter seven: Aircraft Chapter eight: Spacecraft The chapter that really caught my eye (other than all of them) is Ships and Submarines. Listen to this. Each chapter is set up by questions. Example: Who crossed the Atlantic on a bunch of reeds? Answer: "In 1970, Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian scientist and explorer, and his seven crew, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a sailing boat made from reeds. The trip showed that...." The chapter covers dug-out canoes, coracles, longships, galleons, junks, clippers, Corsairs galleys, steamers, steam liner, tugs, ro-ro, container ship, hovercraft, trawls, factory ship, whaleship, kayaks, lightships, floating airfield, battleship, "stealth" warship, yacht, powerboats, and that's not even all of the ships. Each items has a paragraph and an illustration. Isn't this amazing?! This book is fantastic! It should be a coffee table book in every home with children. Make it a family activity to get out the book every night, or once a week, but often, and read about a few "mighty machines" at a time. Not only will you learn about these machines, but the history that goes with each one. This over-sized book (9 x 11) has 256 pages filled with illustrations, text, and both glossary and index in back. It is written for the 9-12 audience and other interested people. Very highly recommended!

Parragon Publishing is a UK-based publishing company that focuses of promotional and packaging services. In the US, I have encountered their book exclusively as Sam's Clum and Half-Price Books, ranging between $10 and $15 for full-color, slick-paper hardbacks. Knowing this, you'd likely be very suspicious of the product...but it's suprisingly good! The format of the "Question and Answers" series is usually a blatant copy of the publication styles of Usborne and DK. White background, full-color illustration, and little miniblurbs of information dominate some titles, while others (like Mighty Machines) have more colorful pages. Mighty Machines is quite large--a generous 8.5x11", as is The USA. Others are smaller. (The Natural World is only 8x6". It is about animals only.) Mighty Machines contains eight chapters: Racing Machines Ships and Subs Cars Trains Motorbikes Trucks and Duggers Aircraft Spacecraft Each contain a lot of historical information (What were clippers?) and record-type information (Who were the first people to fly?) as well as plenty of fun trivia (Who wears a yellow shirt if he's winning?). Sometimes the Q-and-A format is annoyingly forced (Who used fast cars to get away?), but overall, this will be a book that any transportation-crazyed boy will love. I recommend all the titles in the series. Some have a few obvious errors, but the overall quality is very high, the illustrations are good, the interest level is excellent, and th prices can't be beat.