RMS Titanic set sail on April 12, 1912. She is the largest ocean liner to date and considered the most luxurious and the safest. Unsinkable is what the Titanic was considered. There were watertight compartments that were to keep the ship afloat, even if one or two filled up with water. The White Star Line, run by Bruce Ismay, was proud of Titanic. She was the ocean liner that would best any liner built by Cunard, the other major cruise line company. After watching the building of Titanic, and her sister ship Olympic, Mr. Ismay was anxious to test his unsinkable ship.

RMS Titanic reached two ports of call and then set sail for New York City. Two nights later, Titanic was on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, broken in two. She never made it to New York. Because the ship did not have enough lifeboats for all the passengers and crew; because some refused to believe the ship would sink; and because the crew was slow to react, many people lost their life that night. Titanic: Disaster at Sea will take you from construction to the recovery of items, seventy years later.

First, a disclosure: I am a Titanic “Nut.” Anything Titanic and I want to see it; no, I need to see it. Unfortunately, with the digital edition in my eReader, I could not see much. This book has tons of original photographs, diagrams, small snippets of information, and lists of amazing information about the ship, the passengers, and the crew. All of this crammed onto a seven inch eReader does not work. I have not seen this on a ten-inch eReader, so it may or may not look as gorgeous as it does in print.

In the, old-fashioned, printed version Titanic: Disaster at Sea is an amazing collection of factoids, photographs, drawings and most anything else the author could find to get this rather huge volume of information together, so kids can understand the tragedy of that , what lead up to it, and what came after. If you do not understand most things Titanic after reading this book, I am not sure what would help. Kids are going to love this. Titanic enthusiasts are going to love this.

The pages burst with color and information. Not a single space is wasted. Mr. Wilkinson did an amazing job assembly all the details he has. Details of Titanic’s floors and a crosscut of the ship are on a four-page spread pullout. In addition, a poster of this spread is included; perfect for a kid’s bedroom wall. I love kid’s books but I do not gush about them. Okay, I was bowled over one time: Wonderstruck. Well, this is the second time. I love this book. Mr. Wilkinson and the design team at Weldon Owen, plus publisher Capstone, have made a gem. April fourteenth will be the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. Schools all over the country will be doing something related to Titanic. Already, titles are flooding bookstore bookshelves. Titanic: Disaster at Sea should be the one on your kid’s bookshelf.

Note: book received courtesy of the publisher.
Review from Kid Lit Reviews kid-lit-reviews
http://kid-lit-reviews.com/2012/02/18/titanic-disaster-at-sea/
Also viewable at Tween and Teen Books
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