Transportation Books

My child really loves all of the Donald Crews books we own. This one is especially fun because there are no words & we spend a fair amount of time on each page talking about what he sees & what we think is going on. Certain pages are his favorite to discuss & we spend several minutes looking at them with each reading. Use your imagination & have fun!

The book description is very deceptive. The description makes it sound as if the book shows all types of scenery as the Truck travels the U.S. I thought it would be a great book to help my youngster see a bit of America. But beware, most of the pages are ONLY close-ups of the side of the Truck and of road signs. Only 3 or 4 pages show scenery; very disappointing. I thought the book was so awful that I am returning it, paying the postage, and don't care if I lose money on the deal.

this book surprised me by having no words, but son still pesters me to "read" it every time he sees it....i HAVE to hide it sometimes!

This book is masterful at telling a story with just the pictures. The illustrations are crisp and clean yet also richly detailed, and it's fascinating to watch how Crews moves the narrative along with just images (remember, it's mostly just vehicles and the surrounding city- or landscape). This has been such a favorite for my son that he has affectionately nicknamed it "Truck by Donald"!

This book is very popular in our house, getting my son to agree to story time (and thus the inevitable nap or bed time that follows) when he is in full fight mode. My two year old loves this book! I would give it five stars based on his love for it except for the fact that there are times that Mommy is not in the mood to be creative and make up her own story to it since it is strictly a picture book. Most of the time, it is not a problem, the pictures make the story easy to tell, but sometimes I am just not in the mood. However, my son adores this book and has learned how the pictures help tell the story as we discuss, for example, which way the truck will go when it reaches a fork in the road and how there is fog on the bridge. As a certified early childhood teacher, I know how important that skill is in learning how to read, so I love that about this book. All in all, this book is a wonderful addition to our home library.

I specifically purchased this book for the information on Yanmar diesels. I was not disappointed, but later found a factory type manual that was much better and also a source for Yanmar parts. I think I will closely compare both manuals to see if I will resell this or not. I would still give this three stars.

This book turned out to be everything it promised. I own a 44' Ocean Alexander yacht with twin diesel motors as well as a 8KW diesel generator.
After reading the book, for the first time I felt very comfortable in the engine room and knew what I was looking at and for.
It's easy reading and written at a level anyone should be able to understand.
I highly recommend it.

Great book for the average mechanic fixing of diagnosing his/her boats mechanical malfunctions. Look up symptoms and it gives you all problems which could cause them. Saved a bundle of money by being able to fix the problem myself with the help of this book.

excellent and thorough - a real compliment to the spec sheet and manual provided with the engine. Good maintenance tips that were not included in the original manual.

I bought Compton's book based on an ad in [...], a rather heavy duty marine diesel oriented web site. I already had Nigel Calder's marine diesel book and was somehow expecting more, but got less.

Calder's book is more detailed and thorough. If you have Calder's, then you don't need Compton's. So, my advice is to get Calder's marine diesel book instead.

I am currently hard at work on my Private Pilot Certificate and immersed in ground school. I purchased this Machado book (and his IFR book) and agree with everyone else that it is an excellent reference, very detailed and well organized. But I also found, like many of the other reviewers, that the "humor" was a little overboard. Rod's writing style and the illustrations I found to be a little irritating. I am sure others feel the level of humor and the cartoons are just perfect, but I thought it is a little over-done.

At 60-plus years young, I still find learning new things or new ways to understand those that I've already learned to be fun and exciting. I am currently reading a great knowledge builder of a book. Rod Machado's Private Pilot Handbook is exactly the Ultimate guidebook to the world of aviation as seen through the eyes of the Private Pilot.
I got my ticket to fly general aviation aircraft (Visual Flight Rules, only) back in 1984. I've always had a yearning for more information, believing that it could only be a help to me as I progress as an older pilot. The book is filled with handy notes, lots of pictures showing everything you ever wanted to know and more. Even though I haven't quite finished reading the book cover-to-cover, I still find myself jumping around throughout this Pilot's Bible of excellent knowledge of aspects that every pilot should know.
Many years ago when I first started training to be a general aviation pilot, I attended a Ground School course that brought me up to speed so-to-speak, which made the transition into the cockpit easier. This book keeps that transition up-to-date. Before most every flight I will browse through this book just as a reminder that I'm never too old to forget something and never too old to remind myself of all that there is to this thing called flying. I recommend this book as a reference manual to your flight bag!

This product is same as described in purchase. Delivery was very quickly and good conditions. I recommend this product and provider. Sincerely. Jose Pena

Was a Christmas present for my father, he is going to get his pilot's licence and I thought it would be a good gift. I never would have imagined how much he loves this book. Thank you!

I can't say enough about Rod! Great book, Great analogies, Great Jokes! His humor, and teaching talent is bar none! BUY ALL OF HIS BOOKS, you will not regret it

I have been using the recommendations and following the prescribed practice tasks while teaching my son to drive. He is responding very positively, and seems to really appreciate the fact that I care enough to be reading the book and following the course with him. The book has me thinking of things to talk about with him that I would not have thought about on my own. So many things about driving we just take for granted after all these years, but the book reminds us that these little things must be learned and gives us recommendations as to how to introduce them. My mother gave me the keys to the car and I drove home from getting my permit. How scarey is that? That's just not an option today, and this book outlines a complete course of practice that will definately help me to help my son be a better driver. I am very pleased with it.

This well-organized and well-presented book can be a godsend to parents facng the daunting task of helping their kids learn to survive while driving. Written with clever humor, common sense, and uncommon understanding of how to really develop driving skills, this book helps parents and kids avoid the conflicts usually found in parent-teen "instruction" by making the parents and teen become team members in accomplishing the many excellent driving exercises offered. For that reason alone, it's worth far more than the purchase price!

Crashproof Your Kids was an excellent reference source for my safe driving CD Mind the Road: Waking Hypnosis for a Conscious Commute. The advice and recommendations from this book were a great inspiration for the suggestions my audio CD gives to drivers as they start their drive to have a safe and focused drive. I would highly recommend this book with my audio CD to help drivers be prepared for what potentials the road may present to them.

Gave this as a gift to my daughter who has a sixteen year old son. I didn't read all of it but it seemed like the right thing for the moment.

Somewhat wordy and lengthy, but has interesting stories...I especially enjoyed the story of how the author was thrown in jail on a warrant for not paying a minimal fine on time.

this is a great book for any aviation enthusiasts and history buffs alike. The book starts off with the ornithopter and ends in space travel/missels, with complete detail. the author does a great job of explaining political, military and economic impacts on the aviation industry. The only bad part is im on the 3rd chapter and the book is practically falling apart and i bought it new.

A very readable, quick and general history of flight in the United States. Bilstein is a noted historian and provides a narrative history of aviation that while comprehensive is a little disjointed in parts.

The book itself is great but I was missing pages from 52 to 87. I am not sure if the book is printed that way or of my book was the exception. Just make sure when you first get the book to check for missing pages.

This is one of those books that you look for, but seldom find. It is written so that it is easily read, easily understood, and easily absorbed. It is well researched, full of interesting facts and personal stories, and never lets up the pace of delivering an interesting, informative and educational narrative. I found it so much fun to read and understand, that I finished the entire book in three days, then read it again to reap what I might have missed the first time through. The author did an outstanding job of compiling and presenting complicated facts, dry figures, and personal stories into one very interesting and fun narrative. I recommend this book highly to anyone who wants to know every step of the race to flight history in the United states from the Wright brothers, to space exploration. The author managed to include almost every detail in this history of flight that you could ever want to know and still keep the story line from becoming boring, or slowing down once throughout the entire book. This wonderful work would be worth twice the asking price. I am glad that I found it, and am really glad that I now own it as part of my historical collection.

No one writes better syntheses of major topics in the history of air and space than Roger E. Bilstein, now retired from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. "Flight in America" is one of those exceptionally powerful syntheses that lays out a broad master narrative of the subject. Originally published in 1984, this work has now been through three editions, each refining and expanding the work to incorporate new understandings and broader perspectives. Indeed, "Flight in America" is THE place to start in any serious investigation of the development of air and space in the United States. Along with two other broad interpretive works-"Enterprise of Flight: The American Aviation and Aerospace Industry" (Smithsonian, 2001) and "Testing Aircraft, Exploring Space: An Illustrated History of NACA and NASA" (Johns Hopkins, 2003)-"Flight in America" offers a comprehensive narrative of the subject.

In this volume Bilstein progresses chronologically from the time of the Wright brothers, barnstorming, and early military aviation to the rise of aviation as a business, the advent of airlines, and the technological progress of the airplane. He then spend considerable effort discussing the role of the airplane in World War II before moving into post-war developments with jet airliners, global military reach made possible with aircraft, and the beginning and development of the space age. In every sense, he offers a satisfying survey of aerospace issues that is useful both to students and scholars alike.

At a fundamental level, "Flight in America" represents an attempt to help coalesce a "New Aerospace History." Like the "New Western History" or the "New Social History" that has been so important in the last twenty years, this approach represents a significant transformation that has largely been, although not exclusively, taking place in the field. Specifically, the "New Aerospace History" is committed to relating the subject to the larger issues of society, politics, and culture, taking a more sophisticated view of the technology than historians previously held. In the past, many writers on aerospace history held a fascination with the machinery, which has been largely anthropomorphized and often seen as "magical."

The "New Aerospace History" embodied in this work moves beyond a fetish for the artifact to emphasize the broader role of the air- and spacecraft, and more importantly the whole technological system including not just the vehicle but also the other components that make up the aerospace climate, as an integral part of the human experience. This is not to be understood as lacking an interest in the artifact, or being artifactless. Rather it is an affirmation that one moves through reason and study to a larger understanding. It suggests that many unanswered questions are present in helping the development of modern flight, and that inquisitive individuals seek to know that which they do not understand. This assumption arises within historians and is based on their understanding of humans, for technological systems are constructions of the human mind or minds.

This work emphasizes, therefore, research in aerospace topics that are no longer limited to the vehicle-centered, internalist, style of history that had gone before. "Flight in America" offers all of us an opportunity to immerse ourselves in this truly challenging new approach to the field. Highly recommended.

This is the book that got my son fascinated with trucks! His day care center has this book and his teachers told me one day that they LOVE my son; because while all the other kids are running around screaming, my son is sitting in the middle of the floor "reading" this book. Needless to say, I had to go out and get it myself, hoping it'd allow me some time to get things done around the house! My son really does love this book. He reads it every day when we get home from day care, and at 18 months old, he still hasn't torn any of the pages because he is SO careful with it. He doesn't want any damage to come to this favorite book of his!

When my now 8-year-old son was about a year old, this was his favorite book. We read it endlessly, to the point that I would hide it in his bookshelf in hopes that we could read something else. But, he would patiently search through his books until he found it -- "The Truck Book." At some point, he totally lost interest in this book and in vehicles, but I've kept the book all these years because I have such fond memories of reading it together. Plus, I have it memorized!

My son Devon loves this Truck Book. He's two months shy of three, already knows his numbers, his letters and can recognize certain words, probably because Sara and I don't have a television and we read him books like this every night. He's really into trucks, trucks of all sizes, but especially yellow ones. The big dump truck with the giant tires on the cover of this book fascinates him. He likes to pretend he's the driver and I'm the guy in the yellow jeep waving up to him. He just pours over this book, ogling the old timey trucks, like the Wienermobile and the milk truck shaped like a bottle of milk. He likes the car carrier, the cranes and the forklifts. He's just a truck loving child and that's okay by us, because it's got his nose in books and that's the best place for it to be.

Jack Priest, Dad in Training

My 2-year-old found this book in his grandma's book box and immediately fell in love with it. We read it at least 100 times during the seven days we stayed at grandma's. He loved it so much, I had to buy another for our house and a new copy for grandma!

My 21/2 yr old son and I have read this over and over. It has helped me name alot of the trucks we see everyday while driving in the car. Now I can answer his "whasthat?" Plus he loves to point out the trucks by the pictures in the book. Just love the Hot Dog Truck. Recommend for the truck lover in your life.

This new Thomas & Friends story adds to a great tradition and is a perfect complement to the DVD of the same name. The illustrations are rich and engaging and the story is fast-paced and well told. The book itself is beautifully made, with a fully illustrated jacket over the illustrated hard cover. It's the perfect size to read to younger children, or for older children to pick up on their own.

If you have the DVD, this will be a great companion. If you don't, the book stands well on its own! This book is a must-have for Thomas fans and a great introduction for new readers.

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.

Grandma isn't the best garbage truck driver in the world, but she is well intentioned in this watercolor illustrated book. The illustrations are very engaging, with lots to look at. And the story is so silly. I read this with my 2 and a half year old son and he loved it. We made comparisons with his own grandma and being a huge fan of garbage trucks, this was a huge hit with my son in general.

In Grandma Drove The Garbage Truck by Katie Clark, Grannie isn't a rocking-chair woman: she is sick of all the trash piled up in town and she decides to do something about it before the big Fourth of July parade. Lovely drawings by Amy Huntington mark a lively story line in which Grannie takes charge when a sick garbage man threatens her favorite day.

In Grandma Drove The Garbage Truck by Katie Clark, Grannie isn't a rocking-chair woman: she is sick of all the trash piled up in town and she decides to do something about it before the big Fourth of July parade. Lovely drawings by Amy Huntington mark a lively story line in which Grannie takes charge when a sick garbage man threatens her favorite day.

I ordered this book for my son because of his love for garbage trucks. The story is adorable, attention captivating and the illustrations are great too. When Grammy came to visit, we read the story to her and she thoroughly enjoyed it too. I recommend this book for boys and girls and those who are especially interested in garbage, garbage trucks and recycling. Not to worry, my daughter isn't big on trucks but she really likes this book too.

If you're a porsche junkie like me (own 2 of them now), this book is a must for drooling purposes

This book was certainly an interesting read. It provided some good insight into the history of the Porsche 911 and the innovations that were made. I was somewhat disappointed however in that I was hoping the book would tell me what was good or bad about a particular model; it didn't. I also would have liked photos of the models being discussed incorporated with the text. Overall, I enjoyed the book and better understand the decisions made by Porsche as the company matured.

I bought this book for my husband he he loves it. He is planning to buy one for a friend also.

This book has stunning photography and amazing writing. It provides a comprehensive, but not exhaustive history on Porsche's development. The book flows from topic to topic beautifully, making for a engaging read. This has been the best Porsche book I have read, and it was worth every penny. I would reccomend it to anyone who wants to learn more about Porsche, about its development as a company, about its amazing racing heritage, and about the making of the most captivating road car in the world. The Porsche 911.

Randy's book sits prominently in my family room along side other Porsche books and is one of the few that is up to speed with some of the latest offerings from Zuffenhausen. Writing a book on the 911 is nearly impossible because there is so much out there. You have to know where to start and where to end,--and just how much to stuff in the middle. Randy pulls this off with a great selection of photos, most never before seen, and accurate detail of the nuances of the famous 911. The only negative I can find is what puts a book in the top 5% of books, and that is matching copy to photographs,--on the same page. This is extremely hard to do because it is generally unpredictable, where one paragraph or photograph will start or stop. That, along with a handfull of errors in photo IDs keeps it from perfection by design itself but it's nicely assembled and beautifully printed. Anyone with a 911 in their garage should have this book to help explain their addiction to normal people.