Transported - by Matt Ralphs (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Take a journey through time to discover how 50 groundbreaking vehicles changed the world and how they might even shape our future!

From ancient chariots and Viking longships to racing cars, rockets, and solar-powered airplanes, our world has been changed by the pioneering development of many incredible vehicles.

Discover vehicles that have shaped our world in this fascinating book, written by narrowboat captain and children's author Matt Ralphs, with stunning color illustrations on every page by Rui Ricardo.

Review Quotes

Transported by Matt Ralphs and illustrated by debut children's book artist Rui Ricardo is an exciting and educational examination of the 50 most significant vehicles in human history. Beginning with the ancient Polynesian canoe and working chronologically toward the electric and solar-powered vehicles of the present, Ralphs (Norse Myths) provides a litany of fun facts about each vehicle and explains how transportation factors into all aspects of human life. This includes seemingly simple activities like cargo hauling and farming to extravagant displays of luxury, power, and scientific advancement. Ricardo's realistic, detailed illustrations feature magnificent scale and dynamic movement: wheels churning up dust, sails swelling with the wind, smoke billowing out of chimney stacks, and propellers whirring at top speed. Transported is a great gift for young readers interested in history, science, and exploration.--Cade Williams, Shelf Awareness

This is a great STEAM book to give to vehicle-obsessed audiences. Oversize facing spreads
introduce transport options for land (stagecoaches, combine harvesters, electric bikes), sea
(longships, ocean liners, container ships), air (balloons, airships, spy planes), and outer space
(rockets, space shuttles, the Mars rover). The 50 subjects are arranged chronologically, and
detailed, full-page illustrations display each vehicle in action, showing off innovations and
specifications. Each illustration is surrounded by seven or eight paragraphs of information,
including "Facts and Stats" boxes and succinct but satisfying explanations of how each particular
vehicle changed the world. The text is accessible and filled with interesting tidbits: chariots,
which became common around 2000 BCE, were the fastest land transport in the world until the
invention of the locomotive 4,000 years later; the Wright Brothers flew in 1903, and only 21 years
later pilots were circumnavigating the planet. This makes a good introduction to history of
transportation units, and is sure to thrill readers who like things that go.

--Kathleen McBroom, Booklist

Transported is a great gift for young readers interested in history, science, and exploration.--Cade Williams, Shelf Awareness

A great STEAM book to give to vehicle-obsessed audiences... This makes a good introduction to history of transportation units, and is sure to thrill readers who like things to go.--Kathleen McBroom, Booklist

About the Author

Matt Ralphs is a freelance writer of children's fiction and non fiction. While working for many years as an editor he helped other writers create novels, comics, and lavish art books, including special editions made from engraved metal, branded wood, and demon skin. He lives on the Grand Union Canal in England on a boat he christened Nostromo because Alien is his favorite movie.

Rui Ricardo is a Portuguese illustrator based in Porto, Portugal, where he studied graphic design and academic drawing at the University of Fine Arts. His illustrations have been published in major American and British magazines and he has worked with many prominent international brands and publishers. An avid backpacker, he has spent years traveling across Asia, Europe, and bits of Africa and South America.

When he's not drawing, you'll find him building and painting cardboard houses with his 5 year old daughter Laura, riding his bicycle, or playing the banjo and the ukulele.