Freaky-big Airplanes

October 1, 2009
Grades 2-3 In a browsing item par excellence, Goldish introduces nine existing mega-aircraft, from the 840-passenger Airbus A380 to the 159-foot-long B-52 bomber. The simply phrased narrative and captions describe what each vehicle carries, along with top speed, full weight, and other basic facts. The text is shouldered aside, though, by bigyou might even say freaky-bigcolor photos that portray each jet either in the air or on the ground alongside ant-like humans or seemingly miniature cargo. Some views of cavernous insides also provide a riveting sense of the size of these monsters. A visual glossary and a look at four other outsize flying machines (the U.S. militarys Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, for instance) cap this awe-inspiring entry in the Worlds Biggest series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2010
Large photographs (some out of focus) and statistics about size and speed dominate each spread, which superficially highlights one kind of vehicle or coaster. The images best capture the drama when shown in context or alongside people for scale. Vehicle lovers will enjoy learning specific names such as the Caterpillar 797B dump truck and the Airbus Beluga. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind.

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