Transportation Books

Great book. Very realistic pictures. My son loves it and has read it everyday since he got it.

My son is only 20 months old and just LOVES this book! The details in the drawings are so realistic. And it's great that they have both men and women working at construction sites! Too bad it doesn't come in hardcover, as this is a nightly read before bed and that has taken its toll on the paper pages.

I bought this book for my son shortly after his second birthday almost six months ago, and we STILL read it almost every night. Construction equipment is a source of endless fascination for him, and this book has satisfied some of his need for details about what certain pieces of equipment do. He seems to like this book in particular because the drawings are realistic -- he doesn't like the cartoony-drawings in some other books because they don't look like the real trucks he sees in the world. He also seems to like the more sophisticated language in the book, and amazes friends and relations with tales about tree spades, foundations, concrete mixers and pumps, and "jumping" cranes.

We've had this book since my twins were 2 years old. They both love it. The illustrations are colorful while being realistic; they're actually *better* than photos, because the artist can juxtapose several different trucks in one picture, which would be hard to do with a posed photo.

The book addresses suburban house construction, roads, and city demolition and building.

Just a note that everything in this book is a "truck" - my 3 year old knows better. The pictures and idea of the book are great, but it was obviously either written by someone that does not have a feel for the details or it was dumbed down for the audience. There are better books out there for the 3 year old audience presenting the material accurately yet at the proper level.

At first I thought this book would be a typical corporate tome, but nothing could be further from the truth. Well researched, well written and fun to read, I found out things I'd never known about this great airline since I first began flying them in 1985 upon relocating to Seattle. There are times when you read about the early days (up through the early 70s) and you swear the company doesn't deserve to still be in business. It's a great testament to the employees as well as to management (more to employees). It is honestly written--worts and all.

Kudos to Alaska's exeutive management team for giving Bob Serling full access and for being so candid with him--some of it ain't pretty. I worked as a contractor in corporate communications for three months this spring and I can say the team is as ethical, caring and well meaning day in and day out as is reflected in the book. What a breath of fresh air in this day and age of greediness and deceit. Enjoy the "Spirit of Alaska."

Reading this book made me proud of Alaska Airlines. The company commissioned its publication. It had some extremely interesting insight in to the management of the company, particularly post 1972. Like all firms in the aviation business, there have been several instances in the last 26 years where the survival of the firm was clearly at stake. It is made clear that Alaska Airlines only exists today as a result of some very bold decisions made at key times. Countless cases are described where management showed great creativity, integrity, compassion, courage, and brilliance. Equally important, the book describes many instances where company management failed to uphold the values described above and in some cases engaged in behavior and made decisions that were truly shameful. Few of us in this world are saints and it is very boring when people try to potray themselves as such. If this book had failed to describe some of the low points in the airline management's history, it would not have been possible to truly appreciate the acts of greatness. My main criticism of the book is that it failed to recognize the many contributions from non-management employees. There would have been some great sub-plots in this area. A set of short stories about the exploits of some of Alaska Airlines front line employees would make for excellent reading. Alaska Airlines would really outdo themself if they commissioned such a book.

I was curious to know more about Alaska Airlines history, having lived in Juneau, Alaska the last 13 years and having become accustomed to either flying with Alaska Air or taking the ferry to get out of town. The book is a tale of two Alaska Airlines: the floundering, one step away from oblivion company from founding by Linious McGee to the Charles Willis era; and the modern era from Ronald Cosgrave to current CEO Bill Ayer. Serling is at his best in telling the story of Alaska's first 50 years. His research is superb, and the reader gets a good idea of what it must have been like to build the airline in such a tough climate. When Serling moves beyond Willis' reign, one begins to sense that the airline (which commissioned this book) leadership contributed a lot of detail and not as much came from outside sources. In the end, I enjoyed Serling's rather informal style, and felt that I came to know Alaska Airlines and its "characters" a little bit better. Since I know Alaska Airlines as a customer/passenger, I also felt that Serling did a nice job of boiling down all the changes that have occurred at Alaska Air over the 13 years I've been here - I've wondered about the details as they've happened. Now I know the ones the company itself shared through this book. If you're interested in American corporate history like I am, then this is a book well worth reading.

Our 3 y.o. daughter is obsessed with the movie 'Cars'. One night on a shopping trip I brought this book home on a whim. Not a single bedtime has gone by since without reading this book. She loves it so much that she wants desperately to learn to read it for herself. She even recognized the word 'McQueen' repeated throughout the book and reads that word on her own now. The book is already well loved and dog eared but standing up to it all.

The pictures in the book are hand-drawn and give a high-level overview of the story. It skips many of the details in the movie but my daughter doesn't seem to care very much about accuracy, detail or that it looks different than what's in the movie.

We've read hundred of books to her but none have sparked her interest quite like this. I don't know if it's timing because she's getting older or the tie-in with the movie. I don't care even if it seems over-commercialized. Whatever keeps her interested in reading is what counts. I'll surely be buying more books in the series.

Arrived ahead of time for Christmas. Purchased as a Christmas present for my grandson. He carried this book around all night. He loved it. thank you Amazon.

the step into reading books are excellent for young ones....the cars book is cute..good for new readers!!

both my children and found this book to be a delight and very
fun to read. also the pictures were very colorful.
thanks,

debbie pollitt

My four year old really enjoys this book. I wouldn't recommend it older kids though.

Yes quite an interesting book......sadly its not quite as easy as the book says, but interesting non the less.

If you want to realy know how to design cars,go to the Royal College of Art...or Coventry Poly.

How To Design Cars Like a Pro it's a Great Book ! Excelent for Design Students and enthusist of drawing , ideal book to keep practicing and know very good drawing techniques.

I recomend it widely !

best regards

paul

Before I bought this book I thought it would be full of tutorials, and I was wrong. actually you can get those tutorials on the web. But what suprised me was all of the great interviews with the big guys of this industry. This book really lets you know what are you going towards to, and really helps you illustrate the design process of a car, with maybe you involved, in your mind. After each reading session I felt like I have to go draw some cars, it was very inspiring.
If you're looking for a car design career, then this book will help you imagine yourself inside, besides inspiring you to start this journey.

Enjoy

If you are looking for a book about car drawing, skip this one. As the name says, its about design. There are many insights on what designers search when sketching a car, but very few tips on how to actually draw it by yourself (as it was already commented, you can find the tutorials in the internet - for free). That said, this is a very good book. It depicts the creative process behind the design, it teaches you how to see a car, and shows how some of the greatests (read Patrick Le Quement) do it themselves. It is nicely organized, with enough pictures so you won't need your imagination to understand what they are talking about. Not perfect, but surely very good. Strongly recommended.
If you want to get the whole pack, design+drawing, I recommend buying this book together with "How to draw cars like a pro", like I did. Ýou won't regret doing so.

I bought this book, and I find it that this book is not meant for beginner artist wishing to pursue proper car drawing insights. There's only a few pages explain about the basic infos on car drawings, but the rests of those pages are mostly about car designer's tastes of car drawings. If you're an intermediate artist, feel free to get this book. There ...

Bought this book for my 17 year old son. He loves it. A must have for anyone seriously interested in Chevy engines and car restoration.

A very helpful guide with easy to read text and super pictures.
Thank You
Jeff Lacy

I Purchased this book 1 year ago and learned more from it in that time than from 5 years of bench racing with buddies. It not only shows the levels of performance and economy attainable by the venerable Chevy V8, but the theories this book teaches can be applied to most other forms of automotive engine building. So much information in such a small book, that is written with such eloquence that even the most amateur of amateuers can grasp, and fully comprehend it's writings. David Vizard, the author, is an accomplished engineer with a background in the aerospace industry, and is also a seasoned automobile racer. This book is a true summary of several of his other books, which go much farther into detail than this one does. From basic cylinder head porting, to rotating assembly prep and carbuerator tuning, this book covers so many bases that it is a must have in any garage.

david vizard is the best performance auther i have ever read. he only relies on things he has personally proven, and he shows you how he has proven it. he doesn't seem to be as oppinionated as other authors. i would recommend reading any of his books

Vizard delivers exactly what the title is all about. He helps you balance power & longevity against the pocketbook. He also substantiates his claims with his own companies dyno or flow data. Rebuilds range from a minimum of $600@300hp to a maximum of $3000@550hp. Add some nitrous (he talks about this too) and you have a 800hp engine for under $3500 bucks! Be warned, he is blunt and opinionated but backs up his claims.

When I first bought my '76 VW Westy, I purchased just about every kind of book i could find on them. This is the one I keep turning back to when I need to fix something. It has the most breakdowns and photos of any book i've found on the subject. It's broken down into categories but doesn't have an index, which is the only strike i have against it. Whatever you need to know is proably in there if you can find it.

Fantastic. But everyone knows that already! This is THE go to book if you are working on transporters. Beautiful exploded diagrams for even engine tin. Really great resource.

This manual is straight to business and a must have for any Bay window bus owner. Unlike the Muir manual this lacks the fun comments and is very down to business. All the information is there and fairly well laid out sorted by the different systems on the bus.

If for no other reason this is a must have just for the exploded diagrams of parts and the torque specs of ever single nut and bolt on the entire vehicle.

If you're brave enough to take on the care, maintenance, and/or restoration of an old VW bus, this book, along with John Muir's How To Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, is a must-have. While Muir provides the how-to, the Official Service Manual provides the what and where one needs to care for an old VW. I've owned a lot of them (VWs and books). Get this one up-front and save yourself a lot of grief.

This is the first thing one should buy after purchasing any type II vehicle.
It's an invaluable guide to all your mechanical woes. Most vehicles bought today are modified in one form or another. This book covers all the stock components. With this book in hand, one can conduct a thorough inspection of their vehicle and determine what modifications have been made. Restoration or repair, read this book. This manual should be in every Type II owners tool box.
Gary Ino
San Francisco

As an airline pilot, this book saves me explaining every detail of flying repeatedly to, what are often, the same people. Very accurate information presented in a simple manner. A real voice saver!!

This is a detailed but very understandable treatise on passenger aviation and aircraft used. I especially enjoyed the section on all the duplicate systems. Although aircraft wrecks make headlines, they are very rare. Having just read this book, I consented to fly 60 miles on an aircraft with only 1 out of 2 engines and felt perfectly content.

Though this is an informative book on air travel, it is not for those with a fear of flying. Mr. Brown illustrates almost every example of safety equipment on an airplane as the result of such and such crash. He details at least 10 seperate crashes in painstaiking detail. He obviously can't relate well to those nervous about flying as he even mocks the idea of being fearful a couple of times. After reading his book, I have very hesitant about getting back on a plane as all I can think about is all of the different ways a plane can crash.

When dealing with an area of expertise that is particularly technical or complicated, it is often difficult to know where to draw the lines of communication, as it were: how much jargon to use, how deep to go. Mr. Smith has done an excellent job of conveying to the nonprofessional a wealth of information about a highly complex subject in a manner that is easily understood. While I don't necessarily agree with his every point (particularly where it leans toward the political), and this is not a resource for the professional seeking to advance his technical education, it is very well written and worth the read for anybody. This is Your Captain Speaking: A Common Sense Manual for Keeping Your Wings Level

I will be passing this book on to a friend of mine who is a tad squeamish about flying. The author provides straight talk about anything you would ever want to know about traveling by air. He debunks a great deal of misinformation, too, which is perhaps the most valuable aspect of the book.

Long story short: 1st Choice Charlotte K Lowrie, 2nd Choice David D Busch,
3rd Choice Rob Sheppard.
The long story: This is my second Black and White book from Magic Lantern
Guides and by Rob Sheppard having read his "Canon EOS 30D". Black and White what is Lark Books thinking, We'll save a nickle using black ink? Sheppard does a good job of explaining how to work the 40D, which is all we are looking for any way. He uses the actual icon image that matches the various dials and buttons on the camera. Included in the back of the book is a wallet size card to remind you of various menus and setting. On page 89 sRAW is listed as 12.4 instead of 7.1, no big deal, most people only care how many pictures you can get per GB, not how many MB in the sRAW file. The black & white pictures cost this book 2 stars. Will I buy Magic Lantern Guides again? No. Will I buy Rob Sheppard again? Only if he is in living color.

I am transitioning to digital as it has become difficult to find quality labs to handle film, it is quite different to get used to this change and this is the best of the several guides I have used so far.

A definite improvement and a must over the manual that comes with the camera. I read both manuals cover to cover and the Magic Latern book is a much better explanation of the operation of this digital camera.

I wanted a book to learn how to use things like the C1-C3 modes, and how/why to change picture style settings. Nothing in the booked helped me. It looks like the book is wriiten for the person who is moving from a point-and-shoot to their first D-SLR. Relative to the pictures being black and white - I'm not buying a picture book, I'm buying a book to help me understand the camera and how its settings affect the picture. So even if they had been in color it would not have helped me understand the camera. I also bought Charlotte Lowrie's book and liked it better.

Magic Lantern Guides: Canon EOS 40D (Magic Lantern Guides)

I am surpised by the less than enthusiastic reviews of this book. I have owned all the Digital Rebels to date and a few months back bought a 40D. This book has been an excellent description and discussion of the various features of the 40D. I especially like Rob Shepards approach of giving detailed descriptions often followed up by a clearly differentiated "insider view" opinion of where and when he finds a particular feature useful. True, a larger format and color might be prettier but I have found this to be the book that makes me comfortable with this excellent camera. This will be the book that travels with the camera.

This was one of the first books my daughter read cover-to-cover in one sitting. She was very interested in the outcome of the race and motivated to finish the book. Some of the vocabulary is specific to ballooning and was unfamiliar even to me (at least in the context of ballooning).

I was very impressed by the great illustrations in this book. Colorful and eye
drawing they gave a clear picture of the words you were reading. Very nice job!

The story is about a little girl named Ariel and her mother Carlotta who flys balloons.
Ariel wanted to be with her mother on the day of the big race and she stowed away, not telling her Mother.

This is where the fun begins as Ariel and her Mom battle to win the race and Ariel ends up in the lake. A cute read, one you will enjoy reading to your child.

Do you like balloons? If so, this is the book for you. The story is true and took place in 1882. I loved it. There were four characters: Carlotta, Ariel, Bernard, and Mr. Myers. I think kids and their friends should read this book. It did take a long time to read, but it was good.