Alpha, Bravo, Charlie: The Complete Book of Nautical Codes

Gillingam (How to Mend a Heart) delivers a handsomely designed alpha-to-zulu overview of nautical codes, focusing on signal flags and the NATO phonetic alphabet while also covering Morse code and semaphore. Weathered, silkscreenlike images of various vessels appear at left, joined by explanations of the flags’ meanings (“The tango is a complicated dance between two people. The TANGO flag is used to indicated a complicated movement that two ships make together”). Right-hand pages feature a pronunciation guide, a young sailor demonstrating each semaphore position, the Morse code translation, and details about the ships. In a lovely addition, the flags themselves are bound between the facing pages, printed on paper with a linen-y texture. It’s a fascinating and accessible tour of nautical communication past and present. Ages 5–7. [em]Agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (May) [/em]