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
A useful history covering the ancient practices of bartering and using commodities (salt, grain, tobacco) as media of exchange, plus the development of metal and paper currency and contemporary cashless methods of payment; handsomely illustrated with many expansive landscape paintings resembling those in the Maestros' The Discovery of the America (1991), maps, and meticulous drawings of coins and bills. A simpler, more focused treatment than Cribb's Money (in the Eyewitness format, 1990). (Nonfiction/Picture book. 7-10.)
Pub Date: March 22, 1993
ISBN: 0-395-56242-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1993
What was it like on that first journey to Jamestown, or in the first years in the New World? Written as though in the words of one of the settlers, this strives to share that experience and includes actual quotes from the diaries and letters of 15 of them. The tale is filled with misadventures, hardships, and dangers right from the inauspicious beginning as ships set sail on Dec. 20, 1606, and then languish, “ ‘but by unprosperous winds, were kept six weekes in sight of England.’ ” It was not until April of 1607 that 104 men and boys reached shore where they were met by hostile Indians and several were wounded. Returning to their ships, they traveled further up the James River and in May reached a peninsula 40 miles up. There they named their settlement James Towne for King James. The settlement did not prosper; George Percy, a Gentleman, notes: “ ‘There were never Englishmen left in a foreigne Countrey in such miserie as wee were in this new discovered Virginia.’ ” Plagued by mosquitoes, hostile Indians, rotten food, fires that nearly destroyed the village, and gentlemen unable or unwilling to work; the colony nearly did not survive. Sewall, who is noted for her young American histories (Pilgrims of Plimoth, 1986, etc.) weaves a fascinating story and illustrates the adventure with her signature watercolor-and-sepia-ink drawings. She concludes with a list of characters quoted, a glossary, and selected source material. The brief quotes from primary sources and the text that elaborates on the quotes make history come alive for young readers. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-81814-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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