Wings, Wheels and Sails

School Library Journal

Gr 2-6-- These well-researched books use the question-and-answer technique to lead readers through several related topics. The questions appear as chapter headings, while the answers may be as long as two facing pages, or as short as half a page. Full-color drawings, captions, and diagrams, as well as insets of related facts, help to answer the questions. Body covers the obvious topics such as bones, joints, and blood, but also includes less common aspects such as how far people can jump, how cuts heal, colorblindness, goose pimples, and how new life begins. This last question is answered factually and simply with the emphasis on the fertilization of the egg. Earth explores mountains, earthquakes, waterfalls, tsunamis, day and night, seasons, and weather formations. Wings explains how airplanes, helicopters, balloons, airships, and gliders fly; names the fastest, biggest, and most popular cars; and considers bicycles, locomotives, paddle-steamers, hovercraft, and hydrofoils. These are browsing books, aimed at readers with short attention spans but with an interest in the world and how it works. Despite their indexes and glossaries, they will not be widely used for reports except for the extensive illustrations. The information is not new, and neither is the format. Body will be the most useful because of its honesty and more unusual questions, but the others may also have followings. --Dorcas Hand, Annunciation Orthodox School, Houston