Judy Donnelly

Considering the absoute tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic, and the deaths that resulted, this book handles the situation well for younger readers (we gave it to our 7-year-old nephew and he was enthralled).

In addition to the background of the ship's construction and the composition of the passenger list, followed by the events surrounding the sinking and rescue, the author also includes information on the improvements made to safety measures which were most noticeable in their absence at show more that time. show less

I had mixed feelings about this book. One reason I liked the book mainly for its organizational structure, taking the reader through the story of Apollo II' s historic flight 20 years ago from lift-off, through ``The Eagle has landed,'' to splashdown and subsequent quarantine (fear of ``moon germs''). For example, the book is organized through the use of chapters outlining the launch, the recruitment of astronauts, the spacecraft’s destination (the moon), to the landing and moonwalks.
The show more second reason I liked this book is because of its sentence structure. The sentence structure is composed of simple yet specific sentences to portray the information. For example, “Nothing moves. There is no wind or weather. No sign of life anywhere.” The sentence structure is set up so that the reader can take his or her time in reading and comprehending each piece of information at a time.
I disliked the book would be because of its illustrations. I feel that the real images of what really happened and what was experienced would have enhanced the reader’s experience. Instead, graphic unrealistic pictures were used throughout the book. This makes the book feel as though there isn’t a realistic connection to what the reader is reading. If the author/illustrator had included real pictures then this would have allowed the reader to see the real image or item represented within the text. For example, the illustrations portraying the moon walk are unrealistic images that hinder the reader’s ability to make a real connection to what they are reading.
The main idea of this book is to inform the reader about the many difficulties and success that astronauts have had when trying to explore space and that hard work will pay off in the end. show less

48 pages
2-3rd grade
Informational Picture Storybook
Donnelly’s book is an very broad look at the Titanic, the day it sank, and Robert Ballard’s search to find it years later. The book is appropriate for younger children as it moves swiftly through the tragic event without any gory details of drowning passengers. I’m not sure it’s appropriate for an exact death tally to be cited for a second grade class (“2,227 people set sail and only 705 were rescued”). That type of information show more could potentially give a young child anxiety or nightmares. I enjoyed Kohler’s illustrations, which were directly referenced frequently in the text. Maps of the Atlantic Ocean and diagrams of the structure of the boat were employed successfully.
This book was written for children that are younger than I would teach. I do think, however, that it is an overall gentle introduction into a tragedy where hundreds of people died and would be suitable for most younger children. show less

I think this is a good way to introduce the sinking of the Titantic. It showed a lot of good information through the illustrations and the text itself was informative. The book carries out as if the reader is also on the titanic watching everything unfold around them. It takes us through us the building process, the ships setting sail, the passengers and different classes, the striking of the iceberg, the sinking, the rescue of the few survivors, and finally the discovery of the titantic in show more 1985. I think you could use this book in both a social studies class or a science class when the My speak of how they discovered it. I marked it for older children because I think I was in 4th grade when I first learned of the titantic sinking. show less