Mighty Machines: Machines on the Job, NCircle Entertainment, 2007. UPC 843501006245, 90 minutes on DVD. $5.99
Annotation: Have you ever wondered how grapes are picked, how steel is made, or how newspapers are printed? Find out in this action-packed visual explanation of how all of these things are done.
Summary: This is just one of the many titles in the Mighty Machines DVD series which features machinery and heavy equipment on the job. The series originally aired on Canadian television from 1994 until 2008. The program is designed with live-action footage in a documentary style. Many of the machines are given names, and the narrator explains how the equipment works and what each piece does from the perspective of that machine character.
The harvest segment features a grape clipper and tomato picker, while the steel mill portion of the video explains what a slab hauler, ladle crane, electro-magnetic crane, and a fire quencher all do. The final segment in the compilation follows the production of a newspaper from loading the printing press to filling up the delivery trucks with finished papers. The machines go about their business getting their work done, and while the voices and story lines can be a bit silly, there is a good deal of information presented in each segment.
Critical Evaluation: Presenting the information about each job and industry from the narrated perspective of the equipment performing the work is rather ingenious, as it adds a personal connection between the young viewers and the big machinery. Due to the age of the original productions, some of the segments appear dated, particularly those that include footage of the people operating the machines. However, children are unlikely to pick up on this as their attention will be mainly focused on the equipment.
Additionally, because this television series was produced in Canada, some terminology in the program is different than that typically used in the United States, but again, this will not affect a child's enjoyment of the DVD. For children fascinated by construction, farm, transportation and rescue equipment, the Mighty Machine series will provide them with an entertaining and educational experience.
This series is very affordable, with individual DVDs available for $5.99 from the NCircle Entertainment website, and priced even lower on Amazon.com.
Age or Interest Level: Ages 2 to 6
Awards: Nominated for a Gemini Award in 1996 for Best Children's Television or Series
Why Included? Where else can you see a tomato harvester machine in action? Or get extremely close to fire-hot steel as it is being shaped into slabs? For those of us who don't get to see these things in our everyday lives, and for children interested in all sorts of equipment, this window into the world of big machinery is fascinating.
Locomotive by Brian Floca. Atheneum Books, 2013. ISBN 978-1-4169-9415-2
Reader's Annotation: A telegram dated May 10, 1869, and addressed to Elizabeth Peckham in Omaha reads: "All is ready in California. Come West as soon as you are able. Love, Papa". Climb aboard with the Peckham family as they ride the new Trans-Continental Railroad westward.
Summary: "Here is a road made for crossing the country, a new road of rails made for people to ride". Locomotive opens with these lines, and readers embark on a journey full of fascinating details about how the Trans-Continental Railroad was built, the crews that man the trains, the nuts and bolts of how steam trains run, the landscape and landmarks along the rails from Omaha to San Francisco, and what it was like to travel by rail in the 1860's.
Told from the perspective of a mother and her two children, this informational narrative includes glimpses of a vanished America. As they travel through the Great Plains, over the Rocky Mountains, across the Great Basin, and up and over the Sierra Nevada to the Pacific Ocean, Floca has created an account of the steam era like no other.
Critical Evaluation: Not only are Floca's illustrations full of movement and detail, they realistically depict this period in our nation's history when steam engines were driving industry and speeding up the pace of life. Floca's muted palette perfectly represents the dusty, smoky environment of train yards and stations, as well as the parched landscape of the West.
The text contains an incredible amount of information, but is broken into short paragraphs interwoven with the illustrations, which provides resting points between segments - very important for newly independent readers. Floca uses italics, typefaces varying in style and size, and many instances of onomatopoeia to create a complete, multi-sensory experience.
With so many entry points for children with varying interests, this book will appeal to far more readers than a typical book about trains. History, engineering, mechanical principles, geography, travel, and of course railroads are all included in this account of trans-continental transportation at its start.
Age or Interest Level: Ages 4 to 10
Lexile Level: 840L
Awards: 2014 Caldecott Medal; ALA Notable Children's Books; Robert F. Sibert Award Honor Book; NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book, NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
Why Included? Locomotive is a wonderful example of informational text at its best. There is so much that can be learned from the writing, and so many details to examine in the illustrations, that you feel almost as if you had ridden the rails yourself. Floca's narrative voice is warm and engaging, particularly when giving advice to young travelers, like when he suggests, "If the chicken tastes like prairie dog, don't ask why". This book is charming from beginning to end.
