Cars: Engines That Move You (Science Comics Series)

by Dan Zettwoch

Overview

In Dan Zettwoch's Science Comics: Cars, you'll learn where cars came from and how they work. When you pop the hood, what are you looking at? How does gasoline—or electric batteries, or even steam—make a car move? Rev up your motor and take look at the combustible history of the automobile and its explosive effects on our modern lives.

Every volume of Science Comics offers a complete introduction to a particular topic—dinosaurs, the solar system, robots, and more. Whether you're a fourth grader doing a natural science unit at school or a thirty year old with a secret passion for airplanes, these books are for you!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781626728226
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	05/28/2019
Series:	Science Comics Series
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	90,200
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	GN630L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Dan Zettwoch makes slice-of-life comics, goofball illustrations, how-to diagrams, and folksy art in his house in St. Louis, Missouri. His books include Birdseye Bristoe (Drawn & Quarterly), Amazing Facts & Beyond! (Uncivilized Books), and lots of self-published mini-comics. He has finished a series of homemade screen prints about local gross foods, baseball statistics, and, at the request of his son Archie, monster trucks. His first car was a silver 1984 Volvo 740 Turbo. Science Comics: Cars is his first book with First Second.

Editorial Reviews

05/06/2019

The newest installment of the Science Comics series presents the science behind cars, including the advent of human tool-making and harnessing of fire, the fundamentals of simple machines, and the invention of the wheel. In a semichronological fashion, Zettwoch explores the rise of steam-powered vehicles and early engines. The jam-packed comics feature edifying graphics, diagrams, and a cast of quirky inventors and adventurers; playful sections include “Extreme Rides” and a brief history of the car radio. Recent advancements in more environmentally sound technology conclude the volume, including electric and self-driving cars. The book makes it clear that the transportation available to humans today is possible thanks to a very long history of human exploration, imagination, and—of course—scientific innovation. Also available: Wild Weather: Storms, Meteorology, and Climate and Cats: Nature and Nurture. Ages 9–11. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for the Science Comics series:

"This series—written by a handful of authors—seems determined to offer a useful introduction to anything a curious grade-school student might wonder about. The insight behind these books is a powerful one. So much information about the world around us is actually better conveyed visually, through charts, illustrations, and sequential panels, than purely using words." —New York Times

"Like having a Time Life Science Library in comic books. Which is awesome!" —Popular Science


Praise for Science Comics: Cars:

"The winding scenery that gives this journey warmth is historical anecdotes...Zettwoch imbues his visually dense pages with personality and flow befitting his subject." —Booklist

"This breezy spin through the past, present, and (near) future of cars and related vehicles speeds down a well-traveled road, but its graphic format will give it particular appeal to readers years away from learner’s permits." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

05/24/2019

Gr 4–7-Though more of a history of automobiles than a study of their technology, this "Science Comics" entry does dive beneath the hood to highlight electrical and other systems, along with simple explanations of two- and four-cycle internal combustion engines. Zettwoch offers clear, labeled cutaway views as necessary, but he plainly takes more delight in portraying the wild and crazy variety of cars that have come down the pike over the past century and a half—from the spidery putt-putt of Karl Benz that his intrepid wife Bertha took for a 120-mile spin in 1888 to the sleek Tesla Roadster that was sent into space with a mannequin "astronaut" behind the wheel in 2018. In between, the author treats fans to a colorful parade of experimental models, racers, popular classics, and hybrid and electrical cars, capped by exuberant galleries of commercial vehicles (no fewer than 100 types squeezed onto four teeming pages), "weird cars" like the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, head-on views of "car faces," and horns of diverse design. His closing resource list includes more systematic introductions to what he terms the "science-y stuff," as well as leads to specialty magazines, relevant comics, and comprehensive car histories. VERDICT This breezy spin through the past, present, and (near) future of cars and related vehicles speeds down a well-traveled road, but its graphic format will give it particular appeal to readers years away from learner's permits.

School Library Journal