Books with author Patrick%20O'Brien

All aboard! This train travels through history making stops in time to learn about the progress of travel by rail.Hop up into the cab of a speeding modern-day locomotive and look down the tracks into the past. Perhaps these are the same tracks that the diesel-electric locomotives of thirty years ago thundered down, pulling their loads. Perhaps you can see the steam engines of thirty years before that. Watch time unravel and the landscape change as the history of trains barrels through the pages of STEAM, SMOKE AND STEEL: BACK IN TIME WITH TRAINS.The first trains puffed great billowing clouds of smoke and showered passengers with burning embers as they sped down the rails at a pulse-pounding twenty miles an hour! By the 1850's, however, trains were traveling much faster, much farther, and much cleaner and train travel contributed to the growth of our nation. Young readers will be fascinated by the exciting -- and sometimes dangerous -- story of trains while they learn about the different kinds of engines, equipment, and jobs necessary for operating trains throughout history. The young narrator introduces readers to trains from the time of his great-great-great-great-great grandfather at the turn of the nineteenth century to his father's train of today, showing the great changes that invention and progress have brought over time.Patrick O'Brien's striking illustrations emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and romance of the train. Detailed and richly textured oil paintings take readers on a trip through time to ride aboard open-air cars, travel through mountain passes, and roar down the rails on high-speed bullet trains. Budding engineers will love getting a glimpse at the past and dreaming about the future of trains.

As we look back to the beginnings of the space race, 2009 is also the year for looking forward to humankind?s next step toward the stars. In the spirit of books that once imagined colonies on the moon, Patrick O?Brien has created a unique look at your first trip to Mars. Using the most upto- date designs and theories of what it will take to establish a base on Mars, you are off on an incredible journey, over 35 million miles to the red planet. Filled with details, and vividly brought to life, this is an adventure that you are never going to forget.

A dramatic, vividly illustrated look at the tragic ship whose fiery crash ended the age of the dirigible.Like a fabulous silvery fish, floating quietly in the ocean of air ... it seemed to be coming from another world and to be returning there like a dream.On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg, the largest and fastest airship ever built, exploded in a tremendous ball of fire as it came to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey. It was one of the most spectacular disasters of the twentieth century, and in a single moment ended the era of the majestic dirigible airships.For thirty-seven years before the Hindenburg tragedy, the gigantic airships of the Zeppelin Company captivated the world as they carried thousands of passengers on luxurious transatlantic voyages. Some dreamed that the steerable, gas-filled "zeppelins," invented three years before the airplane, would fill the skies as the unrivaled way to travel over the ocean. That dream ended with the Hindenburg.Readers of all ages will enjoy this fascinating look at the Hindenburg and the magical age of the Zeppelin airships.

Life sailing with the Royal Navy in the 1780's was particularly miserable: sailors slept in crowded hammocks, ate moldy cheese and maggoty bread, and were subject to very harsh discipline. So when the HMS Bounty arrived in Tahiti after 11 months at sea, the crew of the Bounty thought it was heaven on earth. Living on the island paradise made them lazy and careless. As the return journey began, Captain Bligh's crew proved reluctant to leave. His temper began to flare, and his second-in-command and old friend Fletcher Christian suffered the worst of Bligh's outbursts. His honor at stake and a longing to return to the island, Christian led a mutiny, then set Bligh and 18 loyal crew members adrift in a launch. A daring escape by Christian and the mutineers, paired with Bligh's amazing story of survival all make up one of history's most rousing true maritime tales, and Patrick O'Brien's 85 illustrations reach epic proportions of drama and realism.

All aboard! This train travels through history making stops in time to learn about the progress of travel by rail.Hop up into the cab of a speeding modern-day locomotive and look down the tracks into the past. Perhaps these are the same tracks that the diesel-electric locomotives of thirty years ago thundered down, pulling their loads. Perhaps you can see the steam engines of thirty years before that. Watch time unravel and the landscape change as the history of trains barrels through the pages of STEAM, SMOKE AND STEEL: BACK IN TIME WITH TRAINS.The first trains puffed great billowing clouds of smoke and showered passengers with burning embers as they sped down the rails at a pulse-pounding twenty miles an hour! By the 1850's, however, trains were traveling much faster, much farther, and much cleaner and train travel contributed to the growth of our nation. Young readers will be fascinated by the exciting -- and sometimes dangerous -- story of trains while they learn about the different kinds of engines, equipment, and jobs necessary for operating trains throughout history. The young narrator introduces readers to trains from the time of his great-great-great-great-great grandfather at the turn of the nineteenth century to his father's train of today, showing the great changes that invention and progress have brought over time.Patrick O'Brien's striking illustrations emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and romance of the train. Detailed and richly textured oil paintings take readers on a trip through time to ride aboard open-air cars, travel through mountain passes, and roar down the rails on high-speed bullet trains. Budding engineers will love getting a glimpse at the past and dreaming about the future of trains.

Here is a collective "biography" of the greatest ships the world has ever known. Since the time people first ventured into the oceans in their primitive boats and rafts, the sea has been a source of adventure, travel, exploration, and glory. Countless vessels have traveled the seas-ships of all shapes and sizes-carrying hopes and dreams, conquerors and pilgrims, traders and explorers. Their names and their stories, carried down through history, remain as vibrant and alive as the people who sailed them. Patrick O'Brien profiles twenty of the world's greatest ships, including the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria; the Mayflower; Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge; the Bounty; "Old Ironsides"; the Amistad; the Monitor; the Titanic; and a fleet of others. These are ships that have made their mark through triumph, through tragedy, or sometimes simply by being in the right place at the right time. Patrick O'Brien's in-depth research and unparalleled skill with a paintbrush bring them to life on the page. Climb aboard and experience some of the magic and excitement that made these ships the greatest in maritime history.

As we look back to the beginnings of the space race, 2009 is also the year for looking forward to humankind?s next step toward the stars. In the spirit of books that once imagined colonies on the moon, Patrick O?Brien has created a unique look at your first trip to Mars. Using the most upto- date designs and theories of what it will take to establish a base on Mars, you are off on an incredible journey, over 35 million miles to the red planet. Filled with details, and vividly brought to life, this is an adventure that you are never going to forget.

On March 9, 1862, two unusual-looking iron-clad warships faced each other inbattle and changed naval warfare forever. When the American Civil War began, warships were still made of wood. Early in the war the Southern Confederates salvaged the sunken Union ship Merrimack, built an iron structure on the deck, and renamed her the CSS Virginia. When they were finished she was a brand new kind of warship-an ironclad. The Northern Union had also been secretly racing to build their own ironclad, the USS Monitor. The two ships were born almost simultaneously and met just one day after the unstoppable Virginia single-handedly destroyed two of the Union's mightiest wooden warships. By the time their historic showdown was through, the age of wooden warships was shattered forever.

Long ago there lived big cats whose giant teeth make today’s cats look tame: sabertooth! Those teeth helped it compete with other predators for a meal of mammoth—or even a tasty human. Then, ten thousand years ago, every last sabertooth disappeared. With only ancient bones—and massive teeth—to guide them, scientists are learning amazing facts about these enormous prehistoric cats. Patrick O’Brien’s captivating illustrations, exciting facts, and kidfriendly, comics-inspired design will thrill young adventurers.

By studying the dinosaur bones discovered over the last two hundred years, scientists have an idea of how big some of the dinosaurs were. Now dinosaur fans of all ages can see for themselves exactly what "big" means. Vivid and exciting, Gigantic! puts some of children's favorite dinosaurs head-to-head with monster trucks, cherry pickers, and tanks.As a child, Patrick O'Brien was fascinated by the illustrations of prehistoric animals in children's books. This lifelong fascination has grown as he continues to study and paint these giants of the past. In this book, accessible to even the youngest picture-book readers, his realistic, highly detailed illustrations easily convey size, and provide a fascinating study of the giants who once ruled the earth.