TRUCKS AT WORK

Here is a series to compare favorably with the Franklin Watts First Book series. Mary Elting has done one book for Watts- The First Book of Nurses (1951- p. 153) and now brings talents for organization, clarity and colorful texts to Garden City. Though not in the same sequence, the elements in all of the books are set in roughly the same pattern comprising a personalized narrative of a typical job in the field; a survey of its other aspects; a few of history's milestones. For instance in Ships at Work Jim is an able seaman through whose activities we learn of a typical day on a freighter and the events of a voyage to the Mediterranean- a good spot to turn to the past for a glimpse of old Phoenician and Arab vessels. Then the text leaves Jim to take a look at foreign ships and further on, ships that serve different trades and purposes... TRAINS AT WORK and TRUCKS AT WORK are similar in scope but supply less information about other countries. MACHINES AT WORK is a nice introduction to the ""manmade giants""- bulldozers, loaders, tractors, all sorts of farm, building and conveying aids that propel our economy. Well known in their field, all the illustrators have drawn enlightening pictures which have been printed in four colors. Long lives predicted.