BAREFOOT BOOKS AMAZING PLACES

A slim collection of awe-inspiring sites the world over.

The places are all part of the built environment, created by people throughout the ages, including the Egyptian pyramids, the Parthenon, the Colosseum, Ankgor Wat, the Taj Mahal, and 20th-century marvels like Sagrada Familia and the Sydney Opera House. Each section starts with a large picture of the exterior of the site with one short descriptive paragraph, then continues with a second double-page spread with several rectangular panels highlighting information about the interior, interesting facts, and equipment needed for the trip or souvenirs to buy. While the initial visuals are attractive, the secondary pages do not provide the in-depth details needed to really understand the beauty of many of these sites. For example, the text for Sagrada Familia mentions the interior, yet there are no illustrations of the inside of the building with its fantastic columns that evoke the natural world. The different exterior facades are mentioned, and again, readers are told about the details of Jesus’ life that are depicted, but the illustrations do no justice to the sculptural stories that exist. Although the places mentioned are from around the world, Africa is ignored except for Egypt. This could be used as a jumping-off place for further exploration, but it doesn’t really do the job it set out to do. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.8-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 56.4% of actual size.)

This brief volume offers only a cursory view of places worth a more intense look.