Ship (Hardcover)

by David Macaulay (Author) "Maria Sousa is beginning to feel the strain..." (more)
Key Phrases: swivel guns, Master Alonso, Brazos del Diablo, Jack Stevens (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
With so much interest in the raising of the Titanic, young readers will certainly be fascinated with David Macaulay's ambitious Ship. Like the recent movie Titanic, Macaulay uses the present day as a portal to the past--first recounting a diving expedition that leads to the discovery of Magdalena, a fictitious 15th-century wooden ship embedded in a treacherous reef near the Bahamas. Overcoming obstacles from pirate treasure hunters to government bureaucracy, the excavation team manages to piece together the intriguing but ultimately tragic story behind the 400-year-old caravel. Finally, the team hits pay dirt when the ship owner's 1504 diary is miraculously discovered in an archive library in Spain's Seville. At this point the narrative switches into the past, allowing the reader to witness the building of the ship through the voice of the ship's owner--and experience the heart-wrenching escalation of the owner's hopes and dreams. This is what Macaulay does best--highlighting and interweaving the human story that fuels the creation of an object, while masterfully visualizing the event with detailed, historically accurate illustrations. Macaulay fans will appreciate the diverse artistic styles displayed throughout the book, from murky underwater images to highly detailed architectural drawings, sepia-toned journal entries to impressionistic watercolors. Simultaneously, the author eloquently portrays the many voices of this human drama, especially that of the ill-fated ship owner. (Ages 10 and older) --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly
In Ship , as in many of his earlier books, Macaulay tells more than one story and does so in more than one way. The book begins with a fictional archeological crew salvaging the remains of a caravel, a 500-year-old sailing ship, from the bottom of the ocean. The tale is related through Macaulay's vivid pencil drawings, through text accompanying the illustrations, and also through documents and letters in the artwork. Though almost no pictures or descriptions of actual caravels survive today, Macaulay shows how archeologists and historians have pieced together an idea of the likely look and construction of these ships. Then, halfway through the book, Macaulay begins another tale--the design, financing, contracting, construction and launch of that same fictional caravel in the year 1405. Subdued watercolors accompany the "diary" of the Spanish merchant who commissioned that ship. Though Macaulay barely portrays the actual voyage, he has nonetheless crafted an exciting story out of the details of marine archeology, historical sleuthing, and the ancient building and equipping of an ocean-going sailing ship. Though the text and book are brief, the depth of the coverage is surprising--Macaulay plays with the relationships between time and color, words and illustrations, and he varies visual perspectives to offer a rich reading experience. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (October 25, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395524393
• ISBN-13: 978-0395524398
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #417,714 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #23 in	Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( M ) > Macaulay, David
  #55 in	Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Transportation > Boats & Ships > Nonfiction

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History, for the kids., April 16, 2005

By	Merinda (Ohio) - See all my reviews

My sister's boyfriend picked this book up at a garage sale and happened to leave it lying around. I was drawn to the cover art and once I started flipping through the pages, I couldn't put it down. It's not exactly a literary page-turner, though the story is kind of interesting - consisting mostly of a diary that was discovered in the early 1990's that contained a man's account of his experiences building a ship in Seville, Spain in 1504. But the illustrations, especially in the second half of the book, are of an incredibly high caliber. I was highly impressed with Mr. Macaulay's abilities and look forward to collecting the rest of his books if they, too, include such interesting painted pages.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like "Connections" only a book, May 30, 2008

By	E. Karl - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's hard to be enthusiastic enough about a book like this. I like the subjects (Archeology, Ship Building, historical research, fascinating stories) and the presentation style, but most of all I like how the author makes connections and inspires you to find more information about things that you suddenly feel as if you never appreciated enough. His other books are similar - "City", "Cathedral" etc. You also get the benefit of considerate and imaginative views taken from vantage points that are often difficult if not impossible to obtain in normal day to day life (or even imaginative flights of fancy)

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book for budding sailors, January 12, 2009

By	Amy Eilertsen "glissade2" (Vermont) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Ship (Paperback)

Love David Macauly's work, and this book is an excellent read for budding sailors who enjoy learning about construction.