Editorial Review

Here’s a series that does exactly what it purports to do—introduces military vehicles (photographed on the ground at Colorado’s Fort Carson), explains what they do, indicates where the people sit, and shows us the parts. In an ending ‘Up Close’ section, the camera draws back to show the sum of the whole vehicle with five or six arrows and numbers keyed to the parts just discussed. It’s a fine choice for high-interest reading with boys, especially, older readers who need practice with simple repetitive but not insultingly easy text of about four sentences to a page. A second grade reader could easily make his way through the book. Except for a soldier or two at the controls, it’s all about big, powerful, useful machines. A glossary (no index) of seven to ten words defines and shows how to pronounce key vocabulary.