Fire trucks help to save lives and prevent the spread of dangerous fires every day. Readers will learn where a fire truck gets its water supply, what kind of equipment it contains, and the ways firefighters use these tools to help keep people safe.
Tractors are an essential tool for farmers everywhere. Readers will learn how farmers use tractors to plant and harvest the crops we use every day. They will also find out how people use tractors to maintain their yards and do chores.
From bridges and streets to houses and skyscrapers, cement is an important material used in many of the structures we use every day. Readers will find out how cement mixers are used to blend, transport, and spread cement wherever it is needed.
Almost anything we build requires some sort of digging. Buildings, tunnels, and swimming pools all start with holes in the ground. Readers will find out how different kinds of diggers are used to create these holes. They will also learn about how diggers are used to help scientists learn more about the Earth.
Tall cranes tower above construction sites and line the edges of shipping ports. Readers will find out how different types of cranes are used to help build skyscrapers, load cargo ships, and much more.
Ambulances can help save lives when people are sick or injured. Readers will learn about the different kinds of lifesaving equipment found on an ambulance. They will also learn about the paramedics and EMTs that staff these important vehicles.
Buster is a sweet little garbage truck. He can't wait to grow up to be a big truck, just like his father. Buster practices driving and lifting and beeping with his friend, Kitty. There's one small problem. Loud noises frighten Buster. When his father takes him to the truck yard to meet the other vehicles, their air-horn blasts and roaring engines send Buster skidding away to hide. He wants to be big and brave, but how can he work with Daddy and his friends when their loud sounds scare him? Buster feels terrible. When Kitty gets into trouble, little Buster musters up his courage to save her.
Originally built in 1921 to race in the ocean, a sailboat named Bernida captures the attention and heart of a Michigan sailor. He buys the boat and brings her to the Bayview Yacht Club in Detroit. In 1925 the sailor enters Bernida in the very first Port Huron to Mackinac Island Race.
Walter the ferry dog loved to greet cars as they came on board each morning. Fetching the captain's newspaper and tasting the cook's bacon were Walter's other important jobs. Cupcake the Cat was just about the only thing Walter disliked about being a ferry dog. One rainy day the waves were rough and no one was paying much attention to Walter. Even worse, Cupcake was poking him with her paw and playing tricks as Walter was being blamed. He decided it was time to leave the ferry! Once on land he ran, and ran, and ran. Soon the day darkened, and Walter was lost and exhausted. Wondering who would do his jobs on the ferry, he felt a familiar poke from a familiar paw. Would Cupcake help him get back to ferry where he belonged?
Could Henry Ford have taken his idea for an automobile assembly line from the elves at the North Pole? Maybe so. Set just before Christmas in 1908, this charming tale finds Henry Ford puzzling over a way to make his Model T affordable for the average family. His little son Edsel suggests that Daddy write to Santa for advice. Since Santa makes toys for millions of children, Edsel points out, he must know a better way. Henry writes the letter just to please his son, but Santa actually answers by taking Henry to visit his North Pole workshop. When he sees the elves working in a line, each completing just one specific task on every toy that's made, Henry Ford envisions an automobile assembly line. The story not only illustrates that children can teach adults how to dream, but it also provides an author's note with factual information about Henry Ford and the Model T.
The potential dangers of riding in automobiles are presented, and readers are taught about seatbelt safety and how to avoid distracting a driver.
Blimps were once a popular form of transportation. Find out how they work and why they are not so common anymore.
Since airplanes were first invented, they have often been used for military purposes. Learn about different kinds of fighter planes and find out how they are different from regular planes.
Discover what makes bomber planes different from regular airplanes and learn how they have been used throughout history.
Learn how a spinning set of blades makes a helicopter fly and find out how pilots steer these interesting vehicles.
Learn all about how these speedy airplanes were created, how they work, and how they help us travel.
Find out how lighthouses work and how they have changed throughout history.
This book relays the factual details of the sinking of the luxury cruise ship Titanic. The narrative provides multiple accounts of the event, and readers learn details from the point of view of a crewmember, a first-class passenger, and a steerage passenger. This book offers opportunities to compare and contrast various perspectives in the text while gathering and analyzing information about an historical event.
In 1932, Akron, Ohio was no better off than other parts of the country. Since Black Tuesday in '29, companies are closed, men all over the state are out of work, and families are running out of hope. Thirteen-year-old Rudy wants to help but doesn't know where to turn. His father, sullen and withdrawn, spends his time sulking on their front porch. His mother is desperate, not knowing how she will feed and care for her family. When Rudy learns of other boys leaving town and heading west to seek their fortunes, he hops a train figuring at least there will be one less mouth to feed at home. As Rudy lives the hobo life while he "rides the rails" to California, young readers are given a snapshot view and testament of Depression-era America.
Leaving port from Superior, Wisconsin on a sunny November day, the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald is looking forward to a routine crossing of deep Lake Superior. Heading for a port in Cleveland, the giant transport ship is loaded with ore that will be used to build cars. But disaster is building in the wind as a gale storm begins to track after the great ship. This suspenseful retelling of the last hours of the doomed vessel pays homage to all sailors who traverse deep waters, in fair skies and foul. Atmospheric paintings from award-winning artist Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen bring the story to life.
Set in the late 1950s, this is the moving story of a young boy whose father operates a ferryboat between Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas. As young Mark witnesses the building of the new Mackinac Bridge, he is torn between family loyalty and eager anticipation. He can't help being awestruck by the majesty of the five-mile-long bridge that will connect the two peninsulas and change the lives of so many. But the Mighty Mac will also put Mark's father out of business. As his father struggles with the flow of progress, Mark dreams of future bridges he will build. Details of the complex construction of the bridge will fascinate children as they learn an important part of America's history and come to understand the meaning of change. The Mackinac Bridge Authority provides history notes at the back of the book.
Get answers in this nonfiction storybook to your fascinating questions! Colorful pictures, short sentences, and a small amount of predictable text per page make this book perfect for reluctant and struggling readers.
Find out how these beautiful balloons float through the air and discover what makes them fly.
Herbie and his siblings have fun with their imaginations while on their grandparents' boat.
Explains how bicycles are made from different materials; discusses how bicycles are assembled in a factory; and how bicycles become available to consumers.
