Independent Reading Level: Grades 4-5
Awards: None

We have almost every edition/iteration of this book! If you wanted to know what any piece of technology would look like if you cleanly sawed it in half, and an expert on the anatomy of said technology was right next to you explaining "how it worked," then you need this book and it's brothers too. ( )

This book is a must-have for a science classroom! It takes some of the most confusing matters and gives you a comprehensible explanation of them! For example, if a student wanted to know how a laser works, they could use this book to find that knowledge. Even as an adult, this is such a good book to keep on hand. ( )

If you have ever taken apart a piece of machinery or googled "how does a hydrofoil work?" then you've found your book series. The Way Things Work is an illustrated look at the engineering behind some of our most used items in the modern world. David Macaulay looks at machine mechanics and how they move, harnessing the elements to make rockets and lightbulbs, how waves are used in color and telescopes and sound, and electricity and its complexities all with the help of a delightful wooly mammoth discovering along with us. Your readers can spend days, weeks, months learning the intricacies of invention and design with this wonderful book.

With creative illustrations and writing that is clear yet creative, many machines, objects and other items are explained. The author and illustrator knows how to synthesize the visual and written word in sparse but colorful terms that inform in many ways.