Customer Reviews

Old Ironsides: Americans Build a Fighting Ship

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book for my wife to use in the reading section of her classroom. I was originally taken by the cover art,(I am in love with tall ships), but I found the text as well as the other illustrations to be very informative and full of facts about American history that I as an adult didn't know. I would not only suggest this book for a simple history lesson but, to bring out the creative fantasy of a young mind.

Well written, this book gives a first hand account of the ship's design and building processes through the eyes of a fictional carpenter's son. Easily holding a child's attention, the story moves along steadily with quite a bit of detail. I was impressed with the way the author gave the audience a historical setting in the beginning and concluded with the famous story of how the ship acquired it's nickname in a battle.

I like the technical illustrations and the information about how the ship was designed and assembled. However, the storyline -- following a boy, the son of a shipbuilder, as he watches all the parts of the ship coming together -- was not cohesive and didn't work as a plot.

Beautiful drawings. Any fan of tall ships or the USS Constitution will get a thrill.

Also check into "Ship" by David Macaulay - about a Spanish galleon being built in the 15th century and excavated in modern times.