'Titanic A to Z, The Story of the World's Most Famous Shipwreck' by Judy Nichols

This is a paid promotional post through my Featured Fiverrs. All opinions are my own, though.

This week marks 101 years since the famous sinking of the Titanic. Commemorate this historical event by downloading a book that teaches you all about it.

 

Book blurb:

Titanic A to Z, the Story of the World's Most Famous Shipwreck, is a children's picture book that takes young readers, ages 5-9, through the alphabet to learn about the sinking of the Titanic. Authentic photos from 1912 make the true facts come alive as young readers learn about the Titanic without dwelling on the gloomy aspects.

Details seldom found in other Titanic books will answer such questions as: Did kids help build the Titanic? What did kids do for fun when on board the ship the first four days? Who brought their pets along? Why did the kids like the Titanic barbershop? Who saw the iceberg first? How did the Captain of the rescue ship find out the Titanic was sinking? What scared the survivors as they waited for the rescue ship to take them on board? How were the kids who survived carried on board the rescue ship?

The introduction tells the story of the Titanic, followed by interesting details added in an alphabetic sequence. Suitable to read aloud to younger children while boys and girls who read at 2nd or 3rd grade reading level can enjoy reading it to themselves.

~~Buy it on Amazon~~

Biography 

Judy Nichols loves to write for children and teenagers and has a special interest in historical subjects like the Titanic. Her writing reflects the years she spent as a librarian, reading specialist, and classroom teacher in K-12 schools. She is also the author of "Titanic Dog to the Rescue" on iPhone and iPad; "Barnyard Santa" on Android and iPhone; and "Teaching in Tough Times", published by Baker Book House. Her poems for children have appeared in Fun for Kidz, Pockets, and Hopscotch magazines. She has published many articles in magazines and newspapers featuring historical subjects and creative teaching projects and continues to write more books that help kids enjoy reading and learning.

Review of Titanic: Disaster at Sea

I was a kid when the Titanic was found lying at the bottom of the sea. I was absolutely mesmerized by the story and all of those photographs published in the National Geographic magazine. The book Titanic: Disaster at Sea is the kind of book I would have read to shreds when I was a kid.


It is one of those nonfiction books for kids that is chock full of details on just about every aspect of the topic. It shares the history of shipbuilding at the time, to put Titanic into perspective. A giant pull-out poster demonstrates the sheer size of the vessel, with a detailed diagram explaining all of her bells and whistles. Illustrations adorn each page to demonstrate the action of the moment. Each illustration is accompanied by fact boxes that detail each person or item, including a real photograph. I think the real photographs are key to really teaching about the history of Titanic. When the part comes about the sinking, a timeline is included in each corner, based on the bridge time and records kept.

A brief section following the details of the sinking highlights some of the more famous survivor stories, almost like a newspaper from the times. The book then touches on the discovery of the ship, the traveling exhibit and famous movies about Titanic before discussing modern steamliners and the lessons learned.

While I was reading through this book, I didn't particularly notice any new information that I had not yet already encountered somewhere else. However, this is one of the most complete and up-to-date books for kids that I have seen about the tragedy. It isn't a book that is going to be easily shared in a group of children. It is a book that is going to engage children either individually or with one other person as they devour all of the tidbits of information. For me, it would have inspired a desire to learn even more about the ship. I would recommend it for elementary and older.


I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review of Escaping Titanic: A Young Girl's True Story of Survival

With the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic this year, numerous books were published to commemorate the tragedy. This picture book relates the story of one of the young survivors, 12 year-old Ruth Becker. Her father was a missionary and the family had been in India. Ruth, her mother, her four year-old sister, Marion, and the baby named Richard were all heading back to the States on the Titanic while their father stayed behind. Mother was very nervous about the trip; but, everyone kept reassuring her that everything would be okay.

The first part of this picture book shows some of the things that the girls did to pass their time. When it comes to the day of sinking, the date and time appears at the top of each page, to denote the timelines of events. Some suspense kicks in when Ruth gets separated from her family. Will she make it to a lifeboat and will all of them survive?


The book gives enough detail about the sinking to provide children with an understanding of what happened. It does not get into the gory, horrific details about all of the people freezing to death in the water, though it acknowledges that part of the tragedy. 

I appreciate that this book is a true story, instead of a fictional account based on the sinking. It definitely lends more credibility to the story. While I enjoy fiction, I would prefer to use an real survivor story when teaching children about the tragedy.

The illustrations in this book, though, remind me more of a computer-generated cartoon movie. They almost look like stills from an animated show. This is not my favorite type of illustration, especially as it seems to detract a bit from the "true story" being told. The people are more cartoon-y than the pictures of the Titanic, which seem more realistic.

At the end of the book, there is a real picture of Ruth, as well as a page telling about the rest of her life and how it was affected by being a Titanic survivor. There is also a brief timelines of the sinking of the Titanic and an Internet resource via FactHound for kids to do more research. I would definitely include this book in an elementary unit on the Titanic. I think it is more appropriate for those in the younger grades, because it does not overwhelm them with the horror.


I received an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.