Jet Plane: How It Works by David Macaulay

Jet Plane: How It Works by David Macaulay

Go on an airplane ride.

It weighs as much as 100 elephants, but it can fly for hours. How does a jet do that? From the engine that provides the power and wings that lift the plane off the ground to the cockpit controls and passenger cabin, see how these modern marvels work and what makes them stay in the air.

David Macaulay received his bachelor of architecture degree from Rhode Island School of Design. In January 1973, Macaulay went to France to work on the first of his twenty-five books, Cathedral. He then constructed a colonial Roman town (City, 1974), erected monuments to the Pharaohs (Pyramid, 1975), dissected the maze of subterranean systems below and essential to every major city (Underground, 1976), built a medieval fortress (Castle, 1977), and dismantled the Empire State Building (Unbuilding, 1980). Macaulay is perhaps best known for The Way Things Work (1988). It was followed by Black and White (1990) for which he won the 1991 Caldecott Medal. A revised edition of The Way Things Work was published in 1998 followed by Building Big, Mosque, and The Way We Work (2008).

Sheila Keenan is an established author of fiction and nonfiction, including Greetings from the 50 States; Animals in the House: A History of Pets and People; O, Say Can You See? America's Symbols, Landmarks, and Inspiring Words; and Gods, Goddesses, and Monsters: A Book of World Mythology. Her work Dogs of War is a graphic novel of historical fiction based on the role of dogs in the military.