Written by Betsy Rathburn and illustrated by Mike Byrne

Blastoff! Missions: Machines at Work is a series of ten narrative nonfiction books that explore different large machinery led by “Blastoff Jimmy”, a cute cartoon astronaut. Each book has mission goals that enhance the reading adventure. Readers learn facts about the large equipment and unfamiliar words are bolded within the text and defined in the glossary at the back of the book. Bright, engaging illustrations are labeled and each book has an index, table of contents and “To Learn More” section. The machines’ jobs are noted and a diverse mix of workers are happily working with the equipment.

Young readers will be surprised by this book, because it isn’t about your everyday dump truck. This dump truck is used in pit mining and is huge! Besides the huge tires, there are ladders to climb up into the cab, which gives you perspective in size. Most kids have probably never seen a dump truck of this size. Therefore, it should be a high interest topic and a fun read! One illustration that really stands out is of an open pit mine with dump trucks way down inside driving along the roads. The mine is absolutely enormous, because the dump trucks look tiny in comparison. Readers will find this book an engaging read. Highly recommended.