How Cars Work
by Tom Newton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Tom NewtonEdition: Paperback
Published: 1999-10-11
ISBN: 0966862309
Number of pages: 96
Publisher: Black Apple Press
Book Reviews of How Cars Work
Book Review: Like reading the chapter summaries of a textbook
Summary: 3 Stars
The publisher's blurb on Amazon here is a bit vague on what this book is actually designed to do. I wish they'd published the author's quote on the Amazon description that they printed on the back of the book. It would have been a clue to me not to buy it (so perhaps that is why they didn't include it). So, I'll type it here for those who may also find it a useful clue:
"When I opened my tutoring center I couldn't find enough reading material for my teenage students, especially the boys. So I started writing short descriptions about car parts aimed at improving reading comprehension. I used simple drawings to help students visualize and associate the car parts with words. Eventually I had enough material for a a complete car book and... well... this is it!"
Having read that on the back, I thought, "Well, of course. This book does read just like a collection of definitions for a juvenile mind that doesn't want to learn as much as skim a concept."
When I got this book, I was hoping for a quick overview of the car. A quick read to look at to gain background understanding before jumping into more complicated books, since I know nothing about cars. It didn't help me much.
Yes, it's a quick read, but it's over-simplified. It's like reading a dictionary without seeing the words in context and hoping to retain the words you learn as useful vocabulary. Or it's like reading only the chapter summaries of a text book which are geared not to help you learn the concept, but to jog your memory after you've read the full material and understand it.
Generally, I have no difficulty absorbing technical information, but this book doesn't give you the full context to grasp the concepts behind the list of "car parts". I plan to keep this book in my library as a quick reference dictionary of sorts, but in retrospect, I wish I had not purchased it. It is badly overpriced and not much use for a novice looking for a cohesive understanding of cars.
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