Inclined Planes

October 15, 2006
Part of the new Buddy Books: Simple Machines series, this book employs a straightforward, colorful format to explain what inclined planes are, how and where their use may have originated, and why they are still effective for work and mobility today. The text shares some interesting concepts, although the information doesn't build in a particularly logical way, and sometimes the illustrations don't appear near the description to which they correspond. On their own, the captioned illustrations are the best part of the book, as they describe each concept, point to what the reader should notice, and sometimes include a diagram overlaying the photo to further explain the main idea. Advanced vocabulary words appear in green and are defined in an "Important Words" section at the back of the book.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)