Ships and Submarines

Children's Literature - Peg Glisson

This entry in the series "How It Works" covers an interesting variety of individual watercraft while covering the basics of sink or float, paddles, sails, steam engines, and propellers. Pleasure, military, and work craft are covered, including the racing catamaran, yacht, jet ski, speedboat, military and passenger hovercraft, supertanker, aircraft carrier, and deep-sea submersible. Information is presented in many small boxes on each two-page spread, some of which are linked to drawings, cutaways, or diagrams. A "Eureka" box provides an historical feature about the craft. Diagrams detailing how things work, such as sails, hulls, hydrofoils, water screw, two-stroke and piston engines, and sonar are generally clear, as are the explanations in the text; how-to's or interesting facts are marked with a red asterisk, which helps the reader know where to look. There is also a photograph included on each spread. Unfortunately, the thin line going from the description/explanation is often hard to follow to its destination on the drawing. Overall this is a useful overview for the intended age group. It is well indexed, has a glossary, and web links (providing considerably more information) to explore. Reviewer: Peg Glisson