David Macaulay's "The New Way Things Work". (I'm not sure what happened to the original The Way Things Work.)

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Th...8478/?itm=1&usri=the+way+things+work

DS7's teacher from last year gave him a copy of this--it's full of useful stuff!

There's also "The Way We Work".

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Way-We-Work/David-Macaulay/e/9780618233786/?pwb=1&pv=y