Freaky-Big Airplanes by Meish Goldish, as reviewed by Freaky

I know Yoda usually does the nonfiction, but a) this one has my name in it! and b) like most readers my age, I love hearing about the extremes in anything.

This book is part of Bearport's "World's Biggest" series, which also includes books about roller coasters, earthmovers and trucks.

Freaky-Big Airplanes is packed with plenty of interesting records and factoids without being too wordy. I thought it was pretty cool how the Boeing Dreamlifter is hinged so it can swing open. That woud be pretty neat to see in person! The Airbus Beluga sure does look like a beluga whale, too - nicely illustrated with side by side photographs.

All of the photos do a great job of trying to convey the hugeness of these aircraft, starting with the giant nose of what I think is the Dreamlifter coming at you from the front cover. Each entry is just two pages, taken up mostly by pictures, with the basic stats (length, height, wingspan, and maximum takeoff weight) at the top, followed by 2 or 3 paragraphs of text and a side box with a little more information. Very accessible for the reluctant reader.

Despite the short length of the book (24 pages), there is still a nice pictorial glossary, a page with additional big aircraft, index, bibliography, and suggested reading/web sites. Can you write a major report with this as your only source? No. Might it inspire a reader to pick up another book and find out more? Definitely!

Follow the link to check out Freaky Big Airplanes and the rest of the series.



Thank-you to Bearport for the review copy!