Title: Around the World in 80 Ways

Illustrated by: Katy Halford

Published by: Dorling Kindersley

From a dugout boat to a moon buggy, find out all the ways you can travel the world in this stunning illustrated book by Katy Halford. Around the World in 80 Ways explores exactly 80 different modes of transport that could take you part way around the world. This eclectic mix of vehicles takes the reader on a fun and exciting journey through time. It is full of amazing facts about when the different types of transport was invented and who invented them. This picture book features some highly eccentric ways of travelling that will have you laughing as you imagine yourself travelling the world on a self-balancing scooter, or on an elephant, or zooming off with a jetpack, or even on a husky dog sled.

Katy Halford’s bold illustrations bring the transport to life, with simplistic and entertaining details and pages full of happy smiley faces, which will keep a child entranced for hours. They will be fascinated to find out what a Gondola, Vaporetto, Maglev and a Tuk-tuk are and how cars and aeroplanes changed people’s lives. This book would make an ideal addition to the class book corner, or to support a class topic on vehicles.

Although, 80 different ways of travelling sound a lot when I’d finished the book I could not help thinking about the ones that were not included and wondered at Katy Halford’s reasoning for picking the ones she did and leaving others like the International Space Station out. Maybe she plans to illustrate a sequel?

I believe this book also highlights the new trend in acknowledging the illustrator and not the writer. I was left wondering if this book was written in-house, or if they had a ghost writer.