Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Titanic: The ship of dreams
Illustrator: Bob Moulder , Tim Hutchinson , Peter Kent
Paper Engineer: Keith Finch and Tony Potter
Novelty Book
For ages 9 to 12
Scholastic, 2007 ISBN: 0439899958
Jack is ten years old and he and his family are going to live in America. They are going to sail across the Atlantic on the RMS Titanic “the biggest ship in the whole wide world!” Of course this is a very exciting experience for Jack. The ship is enormous and there are so many wonderful things to look at and places to explore. On April 10th, 1912, the ship sets sail and it immediately encounters a problem when it almost hits the SS New York. Luckily disaster is averted and the Titanic sails on towards France to pick up passengers. One more stop in Ireland and then the Titanic heads out across the Atlantic towards America.
Mr. Bell, a friend of Jack’s father, takes Jack and his brother Ted on a tour of some of first-class areas of the ship. Jack is amazed at how beautiful they are, and how luxurious. They also see the engine room and other parts of the great ship.
Then on the night of April 14th/15th everything goes horribly wrong. The Titanic and an iceberg come too close and the ship’s hull is badly damaged. Jack and his mother are put into a lifeboat which is lowered into the sea. They are worried but not really alarmed as yet. Then flares are sent up and people begin to realize that the situation is very serious indeed. With horror poor Jack and his mother watch as the Titanic sinks into the ocean taking hundreds of poor souls with her.
In this superbly presented book we not only follow Jack’s engaging and very personal story but we also are provided with a wealth of information about the Titanic and her tragic maiden voyage. This information is presented in a variety of formats including pop-ups, mini books, side bars, tabs to pull and much more. We learn about the how the ship was built, what she looked like both inside and out, who some of people of the times were, what was happening in the world in the early 1900’s, and much more. Readers who enjoy novelty books will definitely want to add this one to their collection.
