NONFICTION

Machines in Motion: The Amazing History of Transportation

by Tom Jackson (text) & illus. by Chris Mould
Bloomsbury. Jan. 2020. 64p. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9781547603374.
COPY ISBN
Gr 2-4–In this British import that studies 12 forms of transportation, each mode of travel is given a couple of spreads. Trains start off the book, followed by ships, cars, balloons, bikes, and spacecraft. Information is presented in a frenzied hodgepodge of drawings, time lines, and factoids. Cartoon illustrations lean toward a humorous tone, and some pictures are repeated. For example, the 1923 autogyro is introduced in the section on helicopters. The exact same vehicle is shown on the next spread, with more detailed facts. There is plenty of information here; the section on submarines starts in the 330s BCE and shows Alexander the Great using a diving bell and ends up in 2012 with James Cameron making a solo dive to the Mariana Trench at the very bottom of the western Pacific Ocean.
VERDICT While not for reports, this book is perfectly browsable, especially for young transportation enthusiasts.
Reviewed by Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI , Dec 01, 2019

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