I was never very clever with Tinkertoys, Lincoln Logs, and so forth. Fortunately I did not go into engineering! For those who did, and who were very successful, read Dreams of Iron and Steel: Seven Wonders of the Nineteenth Century, from the Building of the London Sewers to the Panama Canal, by Deborah Cadbury. Six of the seven are still in use. Built under horrible conditions, with serious chance of injury or death, these would have been amazing if built today so be sure to think of when they were designed and constructed as you read. Amazing! Hard to put down, more pictures would have been nice, but there are other books (and the internet) for that! :-)

From newspaper articles, to copies of the actual plans, and wonderful photos, A Bridge Over Troubled Water: the Legend of Deception Pass, by Dorothy Neil is the history of a nearby crossing. Some were not in favor of a bridge (think the owners of the ferry boat), and there is a delightful spin on the poem "The Village Blacksmith" (Longfellow) honoring a local smithy.

To see an absolutely amazing bridge, Google the Tarn Valley bridge in France. (And if you get the show Impossible Engineering, look for the episode on this bridge). To see other bridges, read Bridges That Changed the World, by Bernhard Graf. One bridge is so old no one is sure just when it was built (best guess is 206 B.C. - 219 A.D.) A nice journey around the world and through time.

Once they were quite common, now, there are just a few left. For a look at the ones around here, read Covered Bridges of the West: a History and Illustrated Guide: Washington, Oregon, and California, by Kramer A. Adams. Wonderful photos, chapters on how they were built, and what they are used for today. This book came out in 1963, so check before following the maps included to be sure the bridge is still there!

When the Brooklyn Bridge was completed, it was considered to be the most beautiful bridge ever built. People would look at it, but were reluctant to cross ... was it really safe (bridges had been known to fall)? P. T. Barnum heard about this, and decided to turn it into an opportunity (as well as some excellent advertising). In May of 1884 he crossed the bridge ... with his elephants ... all twenty-one of them! Read all about this in Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing, written by April Jones Prince and illustrated by Francois Roca.

Reading Hermit With Dog