Freaky-Big Airplanes (World's Biggest)
Grade 3-4– Colorful, close-up photos of the featured machine or structure will draw readers to this attractive series. Titles include nine chapter spreads, each of which has a full-page photo that slightly spills over onto the opposite page, where one or two paragraphs are printed over a fluffy white cloud with a blue sky background. A smaller photo usually appears near the text. Each chapter covers one machine, describing how it is used and providing statistics such as length, height, width, weight, wingspan (Airplanes), and speed (Roller Coaster). Informative captions appear in boxes designed to look like metal plates attached with screws. The texts end abruptly, but are followed by a More… page with four or five small photos and captions of additional similar equipment, giving the impression that there was too much material for the allotted space.EarthmoversandTruckssuffer from simplistic vocabulary at times.Earthmovers, for example, vaguely explains hydraulic as liquid flowing through the machine, andTrucksrefers to ropes or cables as strong cords.AirplanesandRoller Coastershave fewer problems and are acceptable purchases. END