Crossing on Time: Steam Engines, Fast Ships, and a Journey to the New World - Hardcover

Macaulay, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1596434775 ISBN 13: 9781596434776

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, 2019

Synopsis

David Macaulay, co-creator of the international bestseller The Way Things Work, brings his signature curiosity and detailing to the story of the steamship in this meticulously researched and stunningly illustrated book.

Prior to the 1800s, ships crossing the Atlantic Ocean relied on the wind in their sails to make their journeys. But invention of steam power ushered in a new era of transportation that would change ocean travel forever: the steamship.

Award-winning author-illustrator David Macaulay guides readers through the fascinating history that culminated in the building of the most advanced―and last―of these steamships: the SS United States. This book artfully explores the design and construction of the ship and the life of its designer and engineer, William Francis Gibbs.

Framed around the author's own experience steaming across the Atlantic on the very same SS United States, Crossing on Time is a tour de force of the art of explanation and a touching and surprising childhood story.

A 2020 NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book
2020 Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year List

About this title

About the Author

Born on December 2, 1946, David Macaulay was ten when his family moved from England to the United States. An early fascination with simple technology and a love of model making and drawing ultimately led him to study architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. He received his degree in 1969 after spending his fifth year with RISD’s European Honors Program in Rome. The next four years were spent working in interior design, teaching junior and senior high school art and tinkering with the idea of making books. The tinkering paid off. His numerous awards include the MacArthur Fellowship, the Caldecott Medal, won for his book Black and White, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Christopher Award, an American Institute of Architects Medal, the Washington Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award, the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, the Dutch Silver Slate Pencil Award, and the Bradford Washburn Award, presented by the Museum of Science in Boston to an outstanding contributor to science. He was U.S.nominee for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award in both 1984 and 2002. Macaulay currently lives with his family in Vermont.

Reviews

Gr 6 Up-An in-depth informational text surveying the history of steamships, focusing on the SS United States. Master author/illustrator Macaulay combines expository and narrative nonfiction, explaining how William Francis Gibbs and his brother engineered the building of the SS United States and how his family eventually immigrated to America journeying on that very ship. The author's personal connection provides a solid foundation for the information. Macaulay's beautifully detailed illustrations illuminate the blended text, and are so engaging that they will draw in readers otherwise reluctant about the content of the book itself. An afterword and time line provide back matter that will further round out the readers' experience. VERDICT This book is a necessary addition to any collection serving middle grade readers and is perfect for collections in need of STEAM texts; a must-buy for any and all collections.-Amy McInerney, Falmouth Elementary School, MEα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1596434775
• ISBN 13: 9781596434776
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 128