From School Library Journal
Gr 1-3--Loaded with fascinating facts and colorful drawings, these titles will prove useful and fun for students. Spiders answers questions about arachnids young readers might never have thought to ask. For example, they learn that spiders must spin a new web daily since old threads lose their stickiness and break easily. Allan Fowler's Spiders Are Not Insects (Children's Press, 1996) covers some information not found here, but is drier in text and appearance. Trains offers facts not included in Angela Royston's Trains (S & S, 1992). Projects are simple enough to be done without adult supervision. Search-and-find activities sprinkled throughout the texts will be popular with today's Where's Waldo? loving crowd. Bold lettering (interspersed black pages have white print) is easy on readers' eyes. Italicized words appear in the appended glossaries. There are no pronunciation guides for challenging words such as "arachnophobia" and "cylinders" but never mind; these titles are designed to instill interest in students and as such they are fine starting points for further learning.Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Card catalog description
Provides information about different types of trains, including steam locomotives, electric trains, trams, and modern high-speed trains.

ANNOTATION

Provides information about different types of trains, including steam locomotives, electric trains, trams, and modern high-speed trains.

FROM THE CRITICS

Children's Literature - Trina Heidt

Did you know that horses pulled the first railroad trains? Did you know that the first steam trains went slower than walking pace? Did you know that the Flying Hamburger was a train? These interesting facts and others are the driving force of this informative book on the little known facts about rail transportation. Information is presented in a very simple understandable format made up mainly of small snippets (two or three sentences) of data. Many colorful pictures help to illustrate the content of the text. It does not overwhelm the reader but rather lures them in. It would serve as an excellent introduction or secondary resource book on the history of the rail system. It does include a few simple hands-on projects, as well as an index and a glossary. Part of the "I Didn't Know That" series.

School Library Journal