As a child I had the book "What makes it go?" which was full of illustrations of how machines work: https://www.amazon.com/What-Makes-Go-Joe-Kaufman/dp/06003926...
Haven't opened it in 20 years, but I don't think I've poured over a book the same way since.
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Things-Work-David-Macaulay/dp/039...