I have worked in education and history museums for 20 years, and I have yet to find a more complete and entertaining guide for "doing" local history. Weitzman has compiled activities and ideas that teach all aspects of local and family history: using the objects, photographs, places and people that would otherwise be ignored as students go about their daily lives. The text is readable at the middle school level, yet adults will also find it fresh and interesting. Recommended activities require minimal materials and costs, and can be done in the classroom or at home. I use this book in planning all my classes. This book can also be used in planning multi-generational activities for schools or senior centers.

I bought this book for my wife to use in the reading section of her classroom. I was originally taken by the cover art,(I am in love with tall ships), but I found the text as well as the other illustrations to be very informative and full of facts about American history that I as an adult didn't know. I would not only suggest this book for a simple history lesson but, to bring out the creative fantasy of a young mind.

Unlike "Superpower", Weitzman's previous book on steam locomotives, this one is specifically written for children. The wealth of detail, and the story, in "Superpower" is totally absent in this book. I counted a total of 18 pages. That's the bad stuff.

The good stuff is that the exquisite line drawings are just as breathtaking as they are in "Superpower". Occaisonal bits of detail sneak into the text to tease you with the authors knowledge of 19th century industrial technology.

Even as a children's book, I think there could have been more.

Very few children's books venture beyond an image. Weitzman's presentation in "Locomotive: Building an Eight-Wheeler" goes beyond the typical superficial children's train book. Weitzman shows how a train is put together using machines just as grand as the engine. Several manufacturing processes are illustrated in a simplistic manner, which can be understood by a child. The line drawings are magnificent with exquisite detail. The text accompanying the drawings is clear and concise presented at the level of the intended reader. This is the type of book that creates interest in a child.

POURING IRON, written for "young people", presents a superbly illustrated and detailed description of the casting process at the Knights Foundry in Sutters Creek, California using equipment characteristic of about 1900. The approximately 26 pages are unnumbered (the inflated claim of 40 pages must include the covers and blank filler pages). Unfortunately the little book is written the first person which is awkward and annoying-especially in this particular case. An unnecessary and distracting device is that the young visitor is led through the foundry by ghosts. Since the foundry still operates, ghosts are unnecessary-real workers and their stories would be more interesting.