This work is intended for ages 7-12. So begins this well crafted chapter book recounting the adventures of boy Paul, travelling from New York to France on the legendary ocean liner Normandie. Unlike the tragic stories of the passengers on the ill-fated Titanic, this one is filled with the pleasures and novelties of life at sea, with friends made and several unexpected adventures for Paul to retell for the rest of his life. As he finishes his tale with nostalgia for the lost world, the reader will share his memories and know something of the look, feel and smell of the ship, and the excitement of being a passenger on a great ocean liner in its glory days. Full-colour illustrations are well-spaced throughout he book, they recreate the grand details of the liner, from its dining room to its engine room. Thoroughly researched by the Normandie, they bring the ship vividly to life.
Peter Mandel (http://www.author-illustr-source.com/petermandel.html) is an adventure travel journalist and the author of nine children's books. Mandel's books have come out from Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Penguin, Scholastic, Henry Holt, and Hyperion, among others, and have been featured in USA Today, and on ABC's "The Home Show." His titles have been part of exhibits at the Museum of Natural History in New York, at the Smithsonian, and at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, German, Italian, Dutch, Swedish and Danish. Mandel's work is syndicated through Featurewell.com. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife, Kathy, and cats, Sam and Betty. Mandel grew up in Manhattan and graduated from Middlebury College and Brown University.
Mandel's newest picture books for kids include JACKHAMMER SAM, just out from Macmillan/Roaring Brook, and BUN, ONION, BURGER, published by Simon & Schuster in 2010 and named a "Summer 2010 Children's INDIE NEXT PICK" by the American Booksellers Association. His other recent kids' books include PLANES AT THE AIRPORT and BOATS ON THE RIVER, both from Scholastic. The Boston Globe calls them "a great way to introduce the idea of travel in simple terms." The Dallas Morning News lauds the books for "informing and calming very young travelers" and School Library Journal says that "spare phrases combined with bold graphic illustrations will entice busy toddlers" and that "a singsong text suitable for reading aloud makes these titles entertaining choices." Other positive reviews of PLANES AT THE AIRPORT and BOATS ON THE RIVER have appeared in Publishers Weekly and Booklist.
Another picture book, SAY HEY! A SONG OF WILLIE MAYS, came out from Hyperion Books for Children in March of 2001 and was named a Boston Globe "Quick Pick" for children, a Child magazine recommended title, a San Francisco Examiner "Bay City Best" and a featured book in USA Today's Sports Weekly. SAY HEY! is one of six titles selected for the newly published JUMP AT THE SUN TREASURY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN PICTURE BOOKS and is featured in the "Baseball as America" exhibit curated by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and currently at the Museum of Natural History in New York.
His chapter book for children is MY OCEAN LINER: ACROSS THE NORTH ATLANTIC ON THE GREAT SHIP NORMANDIE from Stemmer House, which Publishers Weekly called "a voyage in grand style" and which was featured on a special family sailing on Cunard's QE2. RED CAT, WHITE CAT, another children's book, came out in 1995 from Henry Holt & Co. and was an American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists," a Kirkus Reviews "Best of the Issue," and a Working Mother magazine recommended book. In 1991, HarperCollins published his humorous book, THE OFFICIAL CAT I.Q. TEST. His more recent books include THE CAT DICTIONARY (Penguin) and THE OFFICIAL DOG I.Q. TEST (Bonus Books).
A contributing author of the best-selling collection, CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE CAT & DOG LOVER'S SOUL, Mandel has published his articles and essays in Harper's, Reader's Digest, The Los Angeles Times, The International Herald Tribune, Budget Travel and The Chicago Tribune, and is a regular contributor to the travel sections of The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and National Geographic 'Kids.' One of his Boston Globe articles won the 2005 Lowell Thomas gold award from the Society of American Travel Writers for adventure travel article of the year. Other articles, for The Washington Post and the Baltimore Sun, won Lowell Thomas Awards in 2003, 2006 and 2007. One of his essays is included in the new anthology of travel humor published by Travelers' Tales: "What Color is Your Jockstrap? Funny Men and Women Write from the Road."
Mandel has written about destinations abroad such as Bangkok, Florence, Glasgow, northern Hudson Bay, the African desert, Antarctica, and the southern tip of Chile and Argentina. He also writes about unusual adventures including kayaking in New York harbor, watching polar bears and penguins in the wild, trekking in the tropical jungle, hiking a suburban strip mall, suiting up as a theme park character, and seeing America by metered cab. He likes baseball, ocean liners, Chinese food, and checking out just about any place he hasn't been.
