SHIPS

The history of seafaring transport, from rafts to supertankers, receives a brief but engaging treatment. The uncluttered design begins with a horizontal opening; each spread tackles one era or type of ship, with clear illustrations and accompanying fact boxes. Many tabs allow readers to pull the vessels across the water-blue pages, and another gives them the chance to make the slaves of a Greek bireme row in double-time. Flaps of various sizes lift to reveal a map with various voyages of exploration marked and a huge cutaway of the Queen Mary, among others. With its concluding tableau of a working port, this nifty history will leave young mariners fulfilled. (Pop-up/nonfiction. 6-12)