Transportation Books

These flashcards by DK are great. They are far superior to other flashcards on the market - they are very sturdy, the touch n' feel aspect adds a lot of fun to them and the box is also sturdy. No worries about someone stepping on it and destroying it. I also thought I'd never get flashcards for a one year old, but my son loved these from the minute he got them. We spread them on the floor and he'll pick out the card I call for and is so proud of himself. Now that he's older, he'll name them himself and put them in the box one by one. He had always loved the DK books, so seeing the familiar photos on something he could carry around easily really made him happy. We have four sets of these and love them all.

I never thought I'd get flash cards for my daughter, but she absolutely loves these touch and feel cards. She will sit and play with them and loves to touch and feel. I like the first words set better for her age (16 mo), but she likes these too. You can follow the suggestions for more educational value, or just play and tell her what she's looking at. Very sturdy, nice cards.

Outstanding book on motorcycling. Some of it funny, so of it thought provocing. If you like/love motorcycles, you will love this book. A collection of the author's from Cycle World Magazine.

Peter Egan is among a very small and very distingushed group of writers who have the ability to invite the reader along on their adventures. He is to motorcycling what Gene Hill, Peter Capstick, and Gordon MacQuarie were to hunting - and that is very fine company to be in. When you read his stories, you're with him, riding alongside, enjoying the adventure with him, and sometimes his Wife. His eloquent, descriptive turn of phrase combined with his ability to create unique and thought-provoking analogies makes for smooth, sophisticated, and absorbing reading. To Egan, a motorcycle is far more than the sum of its mechanical parts. It's freedom, dreams - both old and new, exploring, learning about yourself, your country and culture. Through Egan's words, motorcycles bring out the best in the human spirit. Reading his writing makes you glad that you're a part of the motorcycling fraternity, and reminds you why you love motorcycles so much. Enjoy this book, and then get a copy of "Leanings II" and relive the enjoyment all over again. These are books that you will reread, perhaps in part, over and over, and enjoy just as much each time you read them.

This one is truly the best of Peter Egan's writing. The second version isn't nearly as good as this one; the real classics are in here. Of course, if you're really a fan of his writing, you'll get both of them, and probably all the Side Glances ones too. But the earlier writing is better in general.

I did not actually read this book, but gave it to my husband for Christmas. He's an avid motorcyclist and he LOVED this book. He's not much of a reader, but he read this book in every spare moment and finished it within a week. He laughed outloud often and read parts of the book to me that he found funny. He liked the book so much he bought a copy as a gift for my father and he loaned out his copy to another friend when he finished. So, as a gift, this book was a great success.

I have read all of Peter Egan's automotive writings so I ordered both "Leanings" books. While I'm not a motorcycle enthusiast I loved this book. Makes me want to go out and by an old British bike!

An excellent book for anyone starting to learn celestial navigation. It provides sufficient theory to explain the basics without baffling anyone able to understand simple arithmetic and geometry. This is the best book on this subject that I have read to date.

Before crossing the Atlantic in 1978 on my 22' sailboat, I read many books on celestial navigation and became convinced that it was an inpenetrable subject and then, on reflection, I realized that that could not be so as so many navigators had had less geometry etc than me. I figured the authors did not really know what they were talking about. And then I came across Prof. Blewett at the Boston Museum of Science, teaching on 10 Wednesday evenings. After the first lecture, on the noon sight, she said, if you your boat is going faster than 20 kts then you don't have to come back for more. That is all you need. She was absolutely right. But I did continue -- I took the course so I could do the fun-and-games of star sights too. I can now teach her course in 45 minutes.

Celestial navigation, like knots and splices and reading maritime charts and tide tables, is one of the essential sailing skills. Whether you are a daysailer, weekender, blue water cruiser or lone circumnavigator, there WILL come a time when the GPS quits, the Loran won't work, and you're going to say, "Where the &$@!* am I?". If you haven't learned celestial nav at that point you had better be a real quick study or have hired a good estate planning lawyer.

But assuming that Clarence Darrow Dershowitz Kunstler Belli Nizer, Esq. isn't in your crew, Mary Blewitt's book is a good thing to have. Brief, concise, and Ptolemaically simple to understand, Blewitt takes the hocus-pocus out of asking the heavens for directions. The difficulty with learning celestial nav isn't so much the math (as most people want to believe) as it is that modern man is SO far out of touch with the natural world that looking at the night sky is like looking at---something dark and mysterious. However, add a few very basic, easy-to-grasp concepts to your skill set and your Sunfish will suddenly become the Santa Maria.

Knowing celestial navigation will help you to sail anywhere and, even better, to know where you are when you get there. To that end, this book is an invaluable learning tool.

An excellent and clearly written book.
Easy to follow and understand.
A must for anyone interested in this subject.
Written by an expert for both beginners and experts.
I am delighted I purchased it.

This is a neat little book to read if you're serious about finding your position without the benefit of GPS. It's well written and the computations required are basically only addition and subtraction. You can practice using a GPS instrument to check your sights. (What you will find is that you need a lot of practice to get even close!)

Hot Wheels 40 Years is a very nicely put together book. It is a vast improvement in design, paper quality and everything thing else the its five years before predecessor Hot Wheels: 35 Years of Speed, Power Performance and Attitude. It is important to point out that although 40 years are covered, this is no field or price guide and only has a very small number of Hot Wheels vehicle photographs inside. Collectors or would be collectors would need to grab a Warman's Hot Wheels Field Guide: Values and Identification or something like this to get prices of and pictures of all the vehicles out there.

What this book is, is a look at the Hot Wheels brand and its history through the eyes of an avid fan and collector. There are many interviews with designers and others associated with Hot Wheels along with many photos, sketches, castings, prototypes and the like. A lot of photos and information holiday cars given as staff bonuses to Mattel employees are inside as well which are quite interesting and show the company is or at one time was a fun place to work.

The reader is taken step by step through the design stage of some vehicles. Commentary is also given on the finished product of cars throughout the decades as well as production errors such as VW beetles having the engine up front.

There are places where maybe the authors love for the product stopped him from asking the hard questions such as what was the public reaction to the Mystery car packaging (black bubble instead of clear so buyer had a lucky dip type experience, I mean it obviously isn't around anymore, did it just get cancelled due to lack of sales or were customers annoyed with what they got? Also no commentary on the general public perception, of Hot Wheels being an inferior product to brands such as Matchbox (who are now owned also by Mattel) or Johnny Lightning and if Mattel plans on trying to life the image and quality of the brand or is content to just compete on price alone.

Hot Wheels being pretty much the cheapest option for die cast car toys meant pretty much everyone had some of these things when they were kids. They are still priced well below Johnny Lightning (although granted their vehicles are more for adult collectors) and Matchbox today so no doubt if you've got kids today they've got some too. This book would make an excellent showing your kids the difference between your childhood and there's book.

The author is really into his combi vans and a lot of the pages are devoted to those Volkswagen vehicles. The back pages of the book have Hot Wheels top 40 castings which is basically the author's opinion on the best car brought out by Hot Wheels each year of its existence.

It's not a bad read and an enjoyable way to relive the past. Unfortunately a fair few photos make multiple appearances in here though, surely the editors could have stepped in and said hey, how about covering a bit more of the range.

I purchased this book for my 6 1/2 year old son who is Hot Wheels crazy. He looked at all of the pictures and then put it away. It's really for the collector and Dad who played with the cars in the 70's. For them, it's a great book to have around.

interesting book, plenty of photos, not just a dry catalogue, goes into the history of the manufacturing and design process, great coffee table and reference book

I just recieved this book today and "WHOW" what a book. The details of the graphics are fantastic. The are numerous pictures of cars in cards and with the graphics you feel as if you can pick it right off the page.

Angelo has brought the Hot wheel history full circle with this book.

I ordered this book to help trouble shoot starting problems I was having with the bike. It gave me very precise instructions, and easy to follow illustrations.

I was able to find and fix the problem in no time. I recommend it if you have this bike.

Shima.

Great packaging, fast shipping, and really was brand new with the correct item sent! Would buy from again!

Top quality routine maintenance and repair manual. The pictures with the text and the step by step format is a home mechanic's "right hand" tech manual.

This is just one of many Clymer manuals I've had over many years. Always top shelf material.

Having a slightly flakey Honda Rebel it became very important to me to be able to find my way around the bike. This manual is extremely informative and extremely accurate. It does detail just about everything you need to know.

However for a relative neophyte such as myself it has some significant deficiencies:
1) The photographs are black and white and quite low contrast, you cannot always quite see what they are pointing at and thus finding it on the bike is tough
2) I think these manuals are designed for a motorcycle repair shop, they often assume too much. 'Quickly check the compression before reseting the timing' is not detailed enough for someone that is proud he found the ignition switch ...
3) They were only half updated for the newer model. The 199x model rebels are different to the older ones but all the differences are contained in a seperate chapter

As I say, I don't think there is anything any better ... but this manual will be a little intimidating for a newbie ...

Traffic citations, especially seatbelt citations are almost always about power and money. If it were about safety, they would put more focus on straightening out all the dangerous curves, force property owners to cut back brush, obstacles, and hinderances that causes unseen intersections. They could also install traffic control devices where necesary and work that much harder to get the most dangerous class of drivers, the aggressive ones, and those who are intoxicated - off the roads and into jails. There is no need to not know what you can do if you are a victim.

I bought this book because I received a ticket for running a stop sign. Seems simple enough, except he went so far to conceal his location that he put himself in a bad position to see the intersection. After stewing for a few days, I decided to buy this book and determine if I was going to fight it. After reading the info, I decided to plead not guilty and meet with the prosecutor.

He mentions it in the book, and there were 10+ people in the courtroom today that didn't do it, which is make sure that you are prepared. A defense of "I didn't do it" isn't going to work. I broke my defense into 5 parts:

Obstacles - the officer couldn't clearly see the intersection because of bridge pillars which blocked part of his view.

Distance - the officer was over 200 yards (2 football fields) from the intersection where the alleged violation took place. Police have a tendency to really try to hide themselves from you, but in doing so may put themselves in a poor position (which you can bring up in court).

Traffic - the officer put that there was heavy traffic on the ticket. He was on the opposite side of the traffic when he observed me (which further obstructed his view).

Time - I got the ticket at 8 am and the officer was facing due East. This is the time of the morning where he is looking into the sun (he had his hand up in front of his eyes to block the light).

Driving Record - I printed out my driving record (which I had to request online) which shows that I have a clean driving history. This shows that I am a responsible driver and lends credibility to my testimony.

****Side note*****
Unless the lights on the cop car are on, they probably aren't recording video. The officer made it a point to tell me that his car was equipped with video and that I should know it if I chose to fight it. The judge told me today when I requested a copy of it that in most situations they are erased after 30 days (it was 45 days from the ticket to my arraignment).

All of these factors cast doubt on his ability to accurately see me traveling through the intersection, and I am using them to raise reasonable doubt. Hand signs and noises don't convince the prosecutor that you are innocent (I saw a bunch of people doing it today). The prosecutor told every other person there fighting their ticket to take defensive driving (or that they would have to present their testimony at trial), he told me I had a good case and to take it to trial. He said that he doesn't care if I was guilty or not, he only cares about what he can prove (at this point it is very little). Once he verifies the officers vantage point, we should be able to put this to bed.

I am not off the hook yet, but I recommend this book as a good starting place. Buy it and read it, it will help you decide if it is worth fighting.

you need to get this book if you were ever a victim of the traffic codes that plague our country. attorney brown does a great job in breaking down the court procedures and even provide dialogue to use in certain circumstances.

Used this book to get a sense of how to fight my ticket. While the book did not specifically cover my citation (HOV), it did give me some direction on how to approach it and the best way to go about it. It is an excellent way to start and most beneficial for those who have minor violations dealing with stop signs, lane changes and speeding. I highly recommend it.

I took my case to court and won!

I've been to traffic court many, many times and I always feel like I'm misunderstanding something because I get shafted left and right. As it turns out, I was misunderstanding something. I flew through this book, which is odd because it's technically a law book, but it's written in a very accessible way. It's good to just have the knowledge of how to stand up for yourself, and even if you don't stand a chance in court, you at least know what to sat, when to say it, and what the heck is going on. I highly recommend this to anyone considering buying it.

This title highlights those women we seldom discuss: PIRATES! The stories are well written and very useful for everything from Women's history month to unusual biographies. This volume draws the young girl readers into the whole pirate scene. It's a fun read for everyone. Not enough information for reports but definitely great for catching interest to search out more information. Good for school and public libraries and personal collections.

Do you remember that whole Girl Power craze roundabout ten or so years ago? It was the oddest thing. Girls were supposed to seek empowerment in an era of Spice Girls and Ally McBeal on the one hand while appreciating Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the other. The term "Girl Power" has long since faded, but the quest continues to find books for our future female leaders that contain ladies with pizzazz. Now the publishing industry is more than willing to churn out a million pretty pink princess books on the one hand and biographies of people like Harriet Tubman and Jane Goodall on the other. That's all well and good, but you know what the problems with these books are? They're all about the GOOD girls. The ones who took on the bad guys and kicked some serious tuchis (metaphorically, usually). I'm all for strong female characters that are pure as newly driven snow, but what about all the bad girls? Is there something to be gained from reading a book about ladies who killed, robbed, and broke the law with impunity? I think so. If boys get their fare share of true life pirate titles, it should be no different for the fairer sex. So gals, if you want to go out and lead a crew of rough and tumble men across the seven seas to fame and infamy, take a gander at "Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World", and see how it's done. Just bear in mind that aside from all the moral implications, nine times out of ten you'll reach a nasty, sticky end.

Thirteen female pirates of varying infamy, villainy, and tenacity are presented in Jane Yolen's chronological listing of various deeds and misdeeds. After clearing up some piratical misconceptions and truths about the women who worked in that particular field (ballads, clothing, vocabulary, etc.) we launch into Artemisia Admiral-Queen (Persia: 500-480 B.C.) and it's smooth sailing from there on in (so to speak). Each section considers the rumors and legends of the pirate women, considering the truth and the things we can never know for sure. Illustrator Christine Joy Pratt fills the book with scratchboard illustrations that resemble woodcuts. The book actually clocks in at a mere 103 pages, and with its large font and copious pictures, sidebars, and notes of text it's actually ideal for kids reading early chapter books who aren't quite ready for 400 page non-fiction titles. A roundup of other female pirates, a five page Bibliography (including websites), and an Index finish up the book.

Jane Yolen is no stranger to the world of female piracy. From her 1963 Pirates in Petticoats to her 1995 picture book The Ballad of the Pirate Queens (both books about Ann Bonney and Mary Reade) to Commander Toad and the Space Pirates . . . wait . . . maybe scratch that last one. In any case she's clearly tread this ground before. What she hasn't done before is research some of the other cutlass bearing lasses out there. Plus I appreciated that at the beginning of this book Ms. Yolen took time to tell us where these "facts" came from. As she points out, few pirates wrote about their own adventures. "But there are trial documents, logbooks of navy captains, and depositions from captured pirates and their victims," which, such as they are, are as close to fact as we're going to get here. With its continual efforts to separate truth from fiction, the fear with this kind of book would be that you'd have a herky-jerky narrative that keeps you guessing. You might worry that the end result would leave you not knowing what, if anything, to believe. Fortunately Yolen has, in a sense, simplified these stories enough that rumors and facts go hand in hand. For example, the section on Charlotte de Berry of England contains a sidebar called "Truth or Fiction?" that draws attention to the fact that not only is this pirate potentially fictional, but may well have begun life as a penny dreadful. The proper text is filled with references to "Another version of the story" and what "supposedly" happened in her life. Kids will have no difficulty distinguishing out the real from the fun stories. The trick is that Yolen trusts them to understand the difference.

The real trouble with sticking to the facts is that you can't go about making stuff up. Looking at it, that is probably one of the more obvious statements I've ever written. But it's true! I mean, I sure do wish there were more women pirates in this book, but facts and the lack thereof make that just bit impossible. Yolen has actually created a Roundup of other women pirates "about whom little is known" which sates my curiosity to some extent. These include everyone from Gunpowder Gertie, the Pirate Queen of the Kootenays to Rusla the Norwegian princess. So while I would have liked to have seen a couple more ethnically diverse women pirates in this book, doggone reality keeps getting in my way.

When Charlesbridge thought about bringing an illustrator into this project I wonder if art that could look like woodcuts was a given right off the bat. The pictures featured in scratchboard format here seem a well suited fit to a swashbuckling work of non-fiction such as this. As for illustrator Christine Joy Pratt, she has several books under her belt but is still a relative newcomer to the world of children's books. Some of her best work has been on such kid-friendly periodicals as "Cricket Magazine" and "Spider Magazine." There are some sections that are a little random, of course. For example, a bit on Illyrian Boats contains a picture of a very odd boat made up primarily of what look to be peculiar triangles and spares. I'm not quite sure what's going on in that picture. But while the illustrations in this title don't have the realism of, say, Dan Burr's work on the book Pirates, in this context and within this format they are nine times out of ten an ideal match.

Jane Yolen makes admirable work of immoral women. I don't know how your female pirate section of the library is looking these days, but mine's a tad skimpy. Backing up her sources all the way, Ms. Yolen's words coupled with Ms. Pratt's pretty pics render this a very readable, visually informative and fun piece of informational... uh... info. If you've a gal or two (or even a guy for that matter) prone to thwacking seafarers (read: siblings) with swords of their own making, perhaps a bit of female piratical knowledge is just what the doctor ordered. A glimpse into a world that will have you wanting more. Arrrrr!

Having been an English teacher for 38 years, I want my first born grandaughter to love words and books. The best way to accomplish this is to see which library books she likes( and I can stand reading 40 times) and make certain she has them in her personal library. Duck in the Truck is one of those books.

We love Duck in a Truck...my son is almost 4 and we have read the book at least 40 times since we bought it. He loves the rhyming words and the silly duck. It is very appropriate for younger children too.

This has been our 2 yr old grandson's favorite book since he was 9 months old. My daughter and I can recite it in our sleep. Yet, it never grows dull.

The illustrations are bright, colorful and engaging. There are several items to point out and look for, which is what our little guy enjoys.

The text has rhythm and the story begs for participation via sounds effects and physical support.

Our boy shouts every time he sees Duck's vegetables go flying (and we exclaim "Where's the carrot? Look at the watermelon!" etc.) He compares everyone's feet during, "These are the feet, which jump the duck down..." And he gets red in the face helping sheep, frog and duck push against the back of the truck.

I like the introduction to poetic language (again, "the feet that jump the duck down") and the rhyme.

Reviewers have commented on Duck's selfishness in leaving his friends stuck in the muck. However, for our family, being in the muck is a pleasurable, sought-after experience and Duck's quirky character provides opportunity for silly comments.

This is the easiest of the duck books. The others are slightly more complex and Duck's irascibility is even more pronounced. As our boy grows and understands, we know that Duck's less desirable characteristics will serve as object lessons and also provide opportunities to highlight the patience and friendship of Goat, Frog and Sheep. Good lessons, those.

Our little boy (a young toddler) loves this book. We've got hundreds of similar books and have owned and read this one for months now--it doesn't get old and he still loves and laughs at it. It's got great illustrations, excellent rhymes, lots of opportunity for sound effects and voices. As for the idea that the duck is treating his friends badly, well...that's part of why it's funny! You have to explain that the duck is being a jerk, although I think the kid will see that himself.

My 13 month old son LOVES this book. He "reads" it every chance he gets and loves flipping through the pages to point at the different pictures (which are so funny and clever). He asks us to read this book before naps and bedtime constantly. Our family loves Duck in the Truck!

This book has been around for a long time and continues to be used in flight training. I enjoy the simplicity of the illustrations and explanations of weather. I believe this book will continue to be used for years to come.

This volume is a terrific overview of weather for both pilots and non-pilots. It was obviously written by people who love weather and like explaining it.

The downside is that the printing is cheaply done and is, at times, difficult to read. This is a commercial reprint (done by ASA--Aviation Supplies and Academics) that really should have been done better. Unfortunately the PDF version on the FAA web site is an old photocopy which is simply awful. I downloaded but deleted it because it's almost impossible to read.

Many better products out there. Read the reviews. If you want a good, basic overview of weather and weather reports, look at "Rod Machado's Complete Private Pilot."

The FAA's weather products (including "Aviation Weather Services") are in need of major reformatting. That's unfortunate because their "Airplane Flying Handbook" and "Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge" are superb. Both are available as PDFs on the FAA web site and are required reading for the private pilot certificate.

I had to buy this book for one of my classes and fell asleep many times while trying to read the assigned chapters. I have seen books that are much more interesting and do a better job explaining weather (Jeppesen: Aviation Weather).

Published as an official FAA Advisory Circular, Aviation Weather (and the accompanying book AC 00-45 Aviation Weather Services) contains the info you will be required to know to pass the FAA private, commercial, and instrument rating written examinations. Aviation Weather is written in an easy-to-understand manner. It discusses the various cloud formations, formation of warm, cold, occluded, and stationary fronts, the life cycle of thunderstorms, winds (both surface and aloft), icing, and many other weather phenomena. Profusely illustrated with charts, graphs, photos, and diagrams. Understand this and you will know how to "fly the weather" competently. A classic book that all pilots should have in their library, with info that will never become outdated.

I just finished reading Little Toot to my 5 year old. He loved it as much as I remember loving it when I was his age.

I purchased this book as a present for my two year old and he loves it. The illustrations and brief story make it one of his favorites. We embellish it with extra little details here and there. I like it beacause it has survived the love and attention of my very destructive little man.

A wonderful child's book from the yesteryears--My mom read it to me as a child and it's just as great!

Much in the form of Thomas the Tank Engine, Little Toot presents the joy and foibles of life in a simple, easy to follow story line for children. The style is minimalistic but has plenty of emotion and guile.
Highly recommended. Read Little Toot to your little tot!!

This is a beautiful book with a great story. I always favor giving books as gifts to young children and seek out "the classics." This one fits the bill!