Woodford C, Collins L, Witchalls C, Morgan B, Flint J 2005, How Cool Stuff Works, Dorling Kindersley, London.

This non-fiction book offers children and adults the opportunity to examine the inner workings of everyday technological objects. The title 'How Cool Stuff Works' uses the idiom of contemporary readers and invites audiences to ‘check out’ such high tech items as MP3 players, pet translators and space probes through to non-digital items such as footballs and the humble match. Each item is identified and explained on a double page through small ‘bite size’ chunks of information, and can be appreciated as a discreet invention or linked to other items in the book. This format invites the user to dip in and out of the book at will.
The blurred, neon-like, magenta font of the title and hologram of an iPod on the cover is eye catching and alerts the reader to the content. The table of contents and introduction are user friendly. Layout is consistent throughout the book and each double page resembles a website format: subdivisions are used on each page; arrows and double arrows are used to direct the reader through the pages; historical material and projections are contained within a ‘spinning dial’; vividly coloured, labelled photographs and drawings dominate each page; inventions are presented as ‘space age’, surreal objects floating on high gloss black paper; accompanying text relates to ‘how’ the object works; and links are made to other pages in the book.
Additional features include details of the photographic techniques used in this publication, a timeline, inventors (Groundbreakers), a glossary (Techno terms), and an index.