Book is ideal partner to a museum visit

TRAVELLING to enchanted lands is a common theme in Disney films, and now young adventurers can learn for themselves how they can explore.

The 20th book in the Wonderful World Of Knowledge series, Transport, takes a look at how vehicles have developed over time, from the "horseless carriage" to the supercar, from the steamboat to the hovercraft.

Fact-packed and vibrant: All modes of transport are covered here
Wheelie interesting: Jean Gothorp, of the Lincolnshire Road Transport Museum, reads book number 20 in Disney's Wonderful World of Knowledge series, at the wheel of a vintage bus. Picture: Dominic Romney

Lincolnshire's own Road Transport Museum has some of the vehicles the book discusses on display for children to go down and see for real.

Museum attendant Jean Gothorp said: "The chapter on cars has old cars covered and we have lots of those here.

"We also have old buses and things like that which would be interesting for children who enjoy this book.

"It is a really brightly coloured book and I think children would like it.

"There are lots of pictures which would appeal to younger readers too."

Emergency vehicles such as fire engines and ambulances are discussed along with trucks and buses used for everyday purposes.

The pictures are all carefully drawn and labelled, with the bright colours which make them attention-grabbing for young readers of any ability.

More unusual methods of transportation are also discussed, including hot air balloons, rickshaws and microlights, giving a new twist on what could otherwise be thought of as a pedestrian topic.

The book also includes fact boxes, which contain short chunks of text that can be far less intimidating to new readers than large paragraphs.

All these boxes contain snippets of information which add detail to the topic being covered on the page, like the fact that at any given moment there are around 1,250 Boeing 737s flying.

Each page also shows children which Wonderful World Of Knowledge book can tell them more about the topic discussed, a useful tool for school projects and for teaching older children how to do research.

To get hold of Transport, pick up tomorrow's Echo or use one of the catch-up tokens which will be available with the Echo for the rest of the week.

With the Wonderful World Of Knowledge series drawing to a close, do not miss out on the final four titles, Birds, The World Of Art, Communications and Famous Places, which will all be available with the Echo over the next few weeks.

Next week Birds will take you on a flight through the world of our winged friends, from the rainforest to city streets.