Tag Archives: Shipwrecks

Surviving a Shipwreck: the Titanic

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Surviving a Shipwreck: the Titanic is a narrative nonfiction following the timeline of the sinking of the Titanic, from its launch and sinking in 1912 to its discovery in 1985. The book begins with a hook on the first page – a single paragraph detailing the moments after the ship struck the iceberg. Text is interspersed with historical captioned photos to move the reader through the maiden voyage and sinking as well as the rescue and eventual changes in law (United States and Great Britain) concerning safety measures so that this type of disaster would never occur again.

Typical nonfiction features – table of contents, index, glossary, source notes and so forth are present in this book. An interesting diagram of the sinking itself, from hitting the iceberg to the ship breaking in half and sinking in two pieces is included. Another interesting addition is the short biography of Margaret Brown, who tirelessly aided her fellow passengers as they loaded lifeboats, went on board the Carpathia and later when they got to New York. One last page of note is the guide to surviving disasters with steps to take to keep safe in the unlikely event of a ship sinking.

Pair this book with some of the newer fictional stories about the Titanic to give students more history about the event. Surviving a Shipwreck: the Titanic will be a riveting read for your upper elementary readers and a nice addition to the nonfiction about the event.

Examining Shipwrecks

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Examining Shipwrecks by Hayden Wedge is an interesting and entertaining yet  fact filled book.The nonfiction book maintains the theme of shipwreck exploration  while traveling through time in order to tell the reader how and why shipwrecks happens. The book’s text features and fun facts gave the book a nice kid friendly touch while being relevant to the main purpose of the book. The book’s set up makes it hard to become lost and includes an index, glossary, table of contents, and further information page. I personally like ship rides but I don’t care too much to know how they work, yet Examining Shipwrecks maintained my attention the whole time throughout the book and I enjoyed it.This book is perfect for fourth through eighth grade. I rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. If you like ships or are curious about shipwrecks, I highly recommend you give this book a try. This book was an interesting yet informative read that left me feeling satisfied.

-N.D.

Heroes of the surf: A rescue story based on true events

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Summary:   Two boys playing “pirate” on a steamship off the coast of New Jersey in 1882 find themselves in real danger when their ship runs aground.   Hope is almost lost when waves are too high to lower the life boats.  Someone spots something on the horizon.  Is it pirates?   No, there are rescuers in the surf!   Local people have prepared for ships running aground and are on their way to help!

What I liked about it: Introduces the history of the Coast Guard through a fictionalized story, but based on a actual event.   Illustrator Nancy Carpenter’s drawings vividly capture life on a steamship and the movement of the waves.

Who I would recommend it to: Grade 2-4.  This would be a great classroom read-aloud.