Story of the Titanic

Story of the Titanic
Published at DK Canada

About the book

This DK classic being brought back in print tells the story of the Titanic's fateful voyage through vivid original artwork.

Young readers will learn and discover how the ship was built and equipped, what kind of passengers and crew she carried, and what facilities she offered onboard. Learn how she struck an iceberg, why she sank so quickly, how many people were saved, and how many lives were lost.

• Detailed double-page artwork with cutaway scenes tell the tragic story of the 'unsinkable' liner
• Pictorial details and lively annotation give fascinating insight into the Titanic's construction and the daily life of its passengers and crew from the start of the maiden voyage to its sinking
• Covers the official inquiries into the sinking, as well as the discovery of the wreck

My Thoughts

April 12, 1912 was a dark day for the passengers of the Titanic.    Come to think about it, my grand-mother was about 8 years old when the famous boat sank at the bottom of the ocean on its way to New York.     I remember hearing the news when it was found back in September 1985.  And who can forget the movie based on the massive ship?

By now you must have made a mental calculation based on the date… if you didn’t please do so immediately.   2012 Marks the 100th Anniversary of the Titanic's Sinking!  One hundred years ago, the Titanic hit the iceberg and the rest is history.   In the homeschooling world, there are much talk on facebook about celebrating this fateful day by studying the Titanic more in dept.    To be honest, after going through the Story of the Titanic, I think this is one of the best book out there to understand the whole history of the ship.

While going through this book, you will get all the history of the Titanic from the conception and the building to the voyage itself.  More than 2200 people were on board and you will follow some specific passengers or crew members throughout your reading.    The book is packed with photos, illustrations, reproductions of newspapers articles and even drawings of various scenes about the Titanic.   At times, you will see the inside of the Titanic with a cutout view on the side of the massive ship.   I t was fascinating to see the difference between the 1st class and the 3rd class, to discover how many sacks of potatoes there was inside, and how the whole boat was organized. 

You also will get a glimpse of the life on board for the passengers as well as the crew, experience the departure of the ship, relive the events of the fateful night as see the panic on board when the ship was doomed.   You will see who tried to save as many people as possible and who were cowards in the process of evacuating the Titanic.   Did you know that one of the lifeboats had only 12 passengers in it while it could have carried 40 of them?  

Many lives were lost unfortunately.  While reading the book, I discovered the exact numbers for the various classes and the crew.

	LOST	SAVED
1st Class	130	199
2nd Class	166	119
3rd Class	536	174
Crew	685	214

As much as the loss that was felt around the world after the disappearance of the Titanic this tragedy also established important changes in the navigation world.    The main recommendation was to make it compulsory for every ship to carry enough lifeboats for all the passengers and crew  as well as holding regular lifeboat drills.   

As much as seeing an iceberg is fascinating, we have to keep in mind that only a fraction of this ice is showing up above the water.   As we all know now, the part that is hidden can be deadly for ships passing too close to it.  Still I can imagine that it could have been tricky to see an iceberg in the middle of the night going at the speed they were navigating… 

Reading about the Story of the Titanic was very instructive and an eye opener of what happened.  I learned that a man from France had kidnapped his sons to go live in the US.  The boys survived and their mom realized where they were when their picture appeared in the newspaper.   She quickly went to go get them afterwards.   I also learned that the captain of the Titanic, Captain Edward J. Smith, was commanding the Olympic when it collided with the HMS Hawke back in September 1911.   The Olympic  was the first of the new liners to be build by the White Star Live.  The Titanic was the second.     Apparently Captain Smith was found to be at fault when the Olympic and the HMS Hawke were badly damaged.   So I am wondering why he was put in charge of the Titanic a year later?   Apparently it was also his last voyage and planned to retire after 26 years with the company.    After the collision in September 1911, I think he should have been remove of command especially since it was found that he was at fault.

Many dreamed of a new life in the US and only met the end of the lives in the process.   Sad.  Very sad.

So to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I think I will join numerous homeschoolers around the world by reading this book to the children.    I highly recommend the Story of the Titanic to everyone as it is a great way to learn about an event in history and it will inform you about everything regarding the famous ship and its fateful first voyage.

The Story of the Titanic is available at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.