Murrell packs an awful lot in this 30-page survey of the City of the Seven Hills (pages 31 and 32 contain a brief glossary and index). Food and finery, friends and foes, slaves and scribes, patricians and plebeians are just some of the many subjects introduced in two- to five-sentence bites. A team of illustrators has combined color-coded maps with bird’s-eye-views of the city, its homes and public buildings, and close-up, action-packed paintings of Romans at work, at play, in conflict, and in combat (all clearly captioned or labeled) to create a lively little page-turner that will see lots of service when the elementary-school set is studying this perennial favorite. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2004
ISBN: 0-7534-5756-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
The author of Cod’s Tale (2001) again demonstrates a dab hand at recasting his adult work for a younger audience. Here the topic is salt, “the only rock eaten by human beings,” and, as he engrossingly demonstrates, “the object of wars and revolutions” throughout recorded history and before. Between his opening disquisition on its chemical composition and a closing timeline, he explores salt’s sources and methods of extraction, its worldwide economic influences from prehistoric domestication of animals to Gandhi’s Salt March, its many uses as a preservative and industrial product, its culinary and even, as the source for words like “salary” and “salad,” its linguistic history. Along with lucid maps and diagrams, Schindler supplies detailed, sometimes fanciful scenes to go along, finishing with a view of young folk chowing down on orders of French fries as ghostly figures from history look on. Some of Kurlansky’s claims are exaggerated (the Erie and other canals were built to transport more than just salt, for instance), and there are no leads to further resources, but this salutary (in more ways than one) micro-history will have young readers lifting their shakers in tribute. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-399-23998-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
A glorious monument to the national monuments.
The national monuments get their due.
Walker briefly recounts the history of the monuments (thank you, Teddy Roosevelt). Instead of the usual glossy photos, the text is paired with copious subtle watercolors, harmoniously arrayed with text on generous double-page spreads. Sparkling descriptions invite reader participation: “Imagine it’s 1892, and you’re arriving” in New York Harbor. “What will you see in the [pipestone] rocks?” Many monuments are in sites of superb natural beauty, but unlike the national parks, they must have historical, prehistorical, cultural, and/or scientific interest. Readers will find information on dinosaur fossils, geology, flora and fauna, and places important to Indigenous people, significant in history (Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, Stonewall National Monument, the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument), and/or connected to American leaders like Cesar Chavez. Fascinating facts are interspersed (the Washington Monument is held together through friction and gravity rather than mortar; the Pullman workers’ 1894 strike helped establish Labor Day). Regional maps throughout indicate the locations of the various monuments, divided by area: East, Central, Southwest, Mountain West, West, Alaska, and Tropics. A calm, subdued palette and geometric-based forms that use washes rather than line allow for a maximum of information without fussiness and, with help from typography, evoke classic WPA posters.
A glorious monument to the national monuments. (index) (Nonfiction. 6-10)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780711265493
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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