Customer Reviews

Ships and Sailing (DK Visual Dictionaries)

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

 

 

I only wish it was longer. As it is the 64 pages is packed with info, but I still held back my rating to 4 stars.

This is a great book for the kids. DK always seems to do a nice job of presenting a lot of information in a fun way, and this book is no exception. It covers historical information on the different types of ships from the "first boats" to "ships of the line" of the 18th and 19th century. Also the "anatomy" of a ship, how a wooden and iron ship is built, etc. One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that it explains the basic concepts of navigation, piloting, and nautical charts. My family has a long history of sailing, and I really treasure this book as a fun way to introduce my children to learning more about the history and craft of sailing.

Well, as much as I enjoyed the pictures, and the nice layout of each page, it still wasn't quite what I was looking for. I saw the summary stated "looks at the innner workings...rigging, navigation instruments,.."etc and I thought it was going to give some detailed definition of each part of a ship. But instead I see a term, let's say 'hatch coaming/shot garland' that has a line pointing to a general direction in the ship, with no further explanation. What is does say on the side is telling about the type of ship you're looking at, no more information about the parts of a ship, and what they are used for. Like when you first open the book, there is a picture of a 'stropped block'. ...So what is a stropped block? What's it used for? Well I dunno. So that was my problem with the book. I did really like the flags and the different meanings of them though.

Wonderful illustrations! Names everything! Perfect addition to Master and Commander fans!