Elliot Kruszynski
In this title, Professor McPaw explores the history of the car, starting with the steam engine in the early 1800s, the advent of the combustion engine in 1872, the popularisation of the car by Henry Ford in the early 1900s, the evolution of motor racing, luxury cars of the 1950s, the Japanese innovations of the 1970s, and finally the new technologies of electric and self-driving cars today.
Over the years I have slowly become a petrol head. It started with Matchbox cars and has moved on to being in the middle of restoring a 1972 VW Campervan, so it was with great delight that I discovered this from Cicada Books, if only something similar to this had been round in the 1980s, although it would have missed some of the great advances that have been made since, so perhaps now is the perfect time for it.
Fabulously illustrated by Elliot Kruszynski, this is a must have book for anyone with even a vague interest in cars. It covers the earliest beginnings of motor transport and travels through time to the present day (and a little beyond). So much history and so many wonderful vehicles have been included, from the Model T to the McLaren P1 via the 2CV and the Bentley Continental (to name just a few).
The sections on the how a car works and alternative power sources are fascinating and with recent breakthroughs in hydrogen cell technology (its to do with magnets) perhaps the future could be here soon.
Easily accessible to children from Year 2 and beyond, if I have one gripe, it is that the Campervan doesn’t feature at all… #VanLife
