Working Boats: An Inside Look at Ten Amazing Watercraft

by Tom Crestodina

Overview

"Boys and girls — and grown-ups — intrigued by the maritime world of the North Pacific will get much pleasure and a pack of insider knowledge from Tom Crestodina’s Working Boats"
—New York Times

This visually engaging book filled with cross sections and exploded views of working boats is perfect for children--and even adults--curious about the mechanics of boats and the lives of people who work on boats.

Filled with full-page spreads of cross sections of ten intriguing working boats, this book provides a glimpse into their inner workings, as well as highlights of each boat's unique engineering components that enable it to do the job it was built for.

Want to know what goes on behind the scenes of a Coast Guard rescue, what it's like to work on a science research vessel, or what's involved in crabbing? The book includes illustrated details about each boat's mission and jobs people do on board, as well as a glimpse of what life is like on a working boat. 

Packed with information that's fun and practical, the book also includes details about maritime instruments, such as how a radar works, on-water safety gear, diesel engines, and mechanics, such as how water is pumped through a fire boat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632172594
Publisher:	Sasquatch Books
Publication date:	10/25/2022
Series:	Working Boats
Pages:	56
Sales rank:	138,492
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 12.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	1080L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Born in the Midwest, artist Tom Crestodina has been working as a fisherman in Alaska for over 20 years and studied marine engineering at the Seattle Maritime Academy. After the birth of his first child with his wife, Ania, he began making cutaway drawings of the vessels he was working on as a way to communicate with his small child while he was at sea. After other seafarers began to ask for drawings of their own vessels, he went on to document the maritime trades in his whimsical style, and his work is now carried in shops and galleries all over the Pacific coast of North America. He lives in Bellingham, Washington, with Ania and their two children. You can find out more about Tom and his work on his website: TheScow.BigCartel.com

Editorial Reviews

"Boys and girls — and grown-ups — intrigued by the maritime world of the North Pacific will get much pleasure and a pack of insider knowledge from Tom Crestodina’s Working Boats"--New York Times

“Working Boats” is a great resource for kids, and as I mentioned earlier, their parents as well. The drawings will attract beginning readers, the text will keep bringing them back as they master their skills, and the complete package will appeal to grownups.--Anchorage Daily News

"If a photo illustration is worth a thousand words, Crestodina’s cut-away drawings give us more like five thousand words each. . .  It is no cliché to say that, for the mariner inclined, from eight to eighty, this is the one book that does it all."--National Fisherman

"Cross sections and exploded views abound in the detailed illustrations."--Kirkus Reviews

"An informative and fun book for readers interested in boats and how they work, and the target audience will be engaged by the high level of detail."--Booklist

"If your young reader is less interested in story and more interested in non-fiction — especially the workings of a seagoing vessel — then this book is a great gift choice."--Montreal Gazette

From the Publisher

2022-10-12
Learn about the inner workings of working boats as well as the people who live and work on them.

From the tiny Bristol Bay gillnetter to the large National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel, 10 boats are explored in this browsable work of nonfiction. The concise text details how each boat is built for a specific job and run by a crew with a set of skills and knowledge. Some boats have sleeping quarters for long stretches on the water, such as the halibut schooner, while others, like the double-ended ferry, are used for quick trips that allow the crew to sleep on land. As in David Macaulay’s classic The Way Things Work (1988), there are spreads that focus on the mechanics and machinery of boats. Cross sections and exploded views abound in the detailed illustrations. Although many ship parts are labeled, readers already familiar with boat anatomy may find this book most accessible. In addition to focusing on the boats themselves, the book includes interspersed sections on, for instance, safety gear, engines, and types of oceanography. The text uses the gendered term fishermen throughout and also refers to guardsmen and crewman. Though most of the humans depicted appear to be light-skinned, several brown-skinned people are portrayed as well. The book lacks source notes or a bibliography.

Enjoyable browsing for budding seafarers as well as readers fascinated by all things mechanical. (glossary) (Nonfiction. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews