On the night of April 15th, 1912, the Titanic, a new ocean-liner thought to be unsinkable, struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean and sunk, taking more than 1500 people down with it. Author/illustrator Don Brown chronicles that terrible night in this advanced picture-book history, incorporating the testimony of survivors, and giving a brief description of what happened to some of them, after their traumatic experiences on the sea...

All Stations! Distress!: April 15, 1912, The Day the Titanic Sank was published in 2008, and was the first of Brown's Actual Times series, intended to highlight important days in American and world history. Despite being the first, it is the last of the five books in the series that I have read. I found it both informative and engrossing, and was moved to tears on more than one occasion. There are so many disturbing aspects to the Titanic story, from the arrogance and misjudgment of those who built and sailed her, to the fact that most of the inadequate number of lifeboats on board were launched less than half full. One thing that has always particularly appalled me, in a list of appalling things, is that the passengers in second and third class had such trouble getting above decks, something that prevented many of them from being saved. Granted, it was chaos on deck, but given the policy of putting women and children into the lifeboats first, the fact that many lower class passengers came up too late meant that fifty-nine children were denied a seat in one of those boats - a seat that was empty! I understand that the idea that lower class passengers were locked in down below has been disproven, but the fact remains that the lifeboats that were meant to be on their own decks were never put on board, and that they faced significant obstacles getting up to the top decks. Whether they were deliberately targeted or not, class prejudice definitely played a role in their deaths, something Brown addresses in his narrative. His accompanying artwork, done in watercolor I believe, is expressive, and captures the drama of that night. Recommended to anyone looking for a children's introduction to the sinking of the Titanic. This is a text-heavy picture-book, so I'd say it was best for upper primary and middle-grade readers. ( )

"All Stations! Distress!" recounts a tale that we all know (Jack, Rose, "I'll never let go!", etc.), but one which children may not yet be familiar with--the distress and eventual despair that took place aboard the great Titanic. Admittedly, the book didn't initially capture my attention; however, by the end of the story, I was completely engrossed in passengers' narratives, many which I had never before heard. Additionally, I felt that the author/illustrator Don Brown did a fantastic job visually depicting the horrific action that took place that fateful night aboard the sinking Titanic. ( )

Concise text paints a vivid picture of the sinking of the Titanic. The illustrations fit the text nicely, depicting the victims and heroes without being too saccharine. There are other books with more details and facts, but this is a very nice overview. ( )

Author and illustrator Don Brown tells the story of the Titanic for a young audience. The tale of disaster reads like a narrative, from the time that the ship was being built to the picking up of survivors by the Carpathian. Brown incorporates memories from various survivors that would help children better grasp the tragedy. The part of the book I questioned was Brown's assertion that the 3rd class passengers were intentionally locked below the deck until the ship was about to sink. A recent documentary, Titanica, explained that the barricades were not required by the White Star Line but by the U.S. Immigration office, and if the barricades did remain locked, it was due to unintentional omission rather than intentional exclusion.

I plan to show this text to my students as an example of how authors write about tragedies for younger audiences. My students have to select a historical or natural disaster, research it, and then write a children's book based on their research. Hopefully, when I share this text with them, it will lead to a discussion of how and what Brown does to explain significant loss of life to elementary students. ( )

All Stations! Distress! is a book about the story of the Titanic. It begins with the building of the Titanic and follows all the way through the sinking. It goes on to tell of what became of some of the survivors from that fateful night.
I think this book covers a lot of information about the Titanic, but doesn't give a large amount of details. This would be a good book to use to begin the story of the Titanic. I would not use it with very young children, but I think third grade could handle it.

If I used this in my classroom, I would use it as a read aloud to introduce the entire issue of the Titanic. After that, I would bring in additional books about the Titanic to give them more details. Two of those books could be Ghost Liners or You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Titanic. ( )