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LOST CIVILIZATIONS

Name: LOST CIVILIZATIONS
Author: Sharon Linnéa
ISBN: 978-1-4027-3984-2

by Sharon Linnéa and illustrated by Josh Cochran ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2009

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An attention-getting double cover with a die-cut window is the most—quite possibly the only—memorable feature of this cursory look at two vanished cultures and three abandoned cities. After opening with the startlingly original claim that the Fertile Crescent was where “the first humans walked,” Linnéa sandwiches a chapter on Atlantis between descriptions of the re-discoveries of Ur and the cities of the Maya and of Pompeii and Angkor Wat. Offering a blend of standard facts and outright misinformation—the Mayans “never invented the wheel” (probably wrong, as ancient wheeled toys have been discovered) and “didn’t realize that they could use animals such as mules [and] horses…” (both of which were unknown in the Americas until imported from Europe)—with a spare handful of muddy photos and stylized sketches of ancient scenes or archeologists in action for illustration, this entry in the “Mysteries Unwrapped” series doesn’t come close to measuring up to the likes of Rebecca Stefoff’s Finding the Lost Cities (1998). (Nonfiction. 10-12)

Pub Date: June 1, 2009

ISBN: 978-1-4027-3984-2

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Sterling

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL SCIENCES

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THE CENTURY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

by Peter Jennings & Todd Brewster ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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Just in time for the millennium comes this adaptation of Jennings and Brewster’s The Century (1998). Still a browsable, coffee-table edition, the book divides the last 100 years more or less by decade, with such chapter headings as “Shell Shock,” “Global Nightmare,” and “Machine Dreams.” A sweeping array of predominantly black-and-white photographs documents the story in pictures—from Theodore Roosevelt to O.J., the Panama Canal to the crumbling Berlin Wall, the dawn of radio to the rise of Microsoft—along with plenty of captions and brief capsules of historical events. Setting this volume apart, and making it more than just a glossy textbook overview of mega-events, are blue sidebars that chronicle the thoughts, actions, and attitudes of ordinary men, women, and children whose names did not appear in the news. These feature-news style interviews feature Milt Hinton on the Great Migration, Betty Broyles on a first automobile ride, Sharpe James on the effect of Jackie Robinson’s success on his life, Clara Hancox on growing up in the Depression, Marnie Mueller on life as an early Peace Corps volunteer, and more. The authors define the American century by “the inevitability of change,” a theme reflected in the selection of photographs and interviews throughout wartime and peacetime, at home and abroad. While global events are included only in terms of their impact on Americans, this portfolio of the century is right for leafing through or for total immersion. (index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-385-32708-0

Page Count: 245

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORY

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NICKOMMOH!

A THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION

by Jackie French Koller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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Koller (Bouncing on the Bed, p. 143, etc.) portrays a Narragansett nickommoh, or celebratory gathering, from which it is very likely the tradition of Thanksgiving was drawn. As explained in an exemplary note—brief, clear, interesting—at the end of the book, these gatherings occurred 13 times a year, once each lunar month. The harvest gathering is one of the larger gatherings: a great lodge was built, copious food was prepared, and music and dance extended deep into the night. Koller laces the text with a good selection of Narragansett words, found in the glossary (although there is no key to pronunciation, even for words such as Taqountikeeswush and Puttuckquapuonck). The text is written as a chanted prose poem, with much repetition, which can be both incantatory and hackneyed, as when “frost lies thick on the fields at dawn, and the winged ones pass overhead in great numbers.” Mostly the phrases are stirring—as are Sewall’s scratchboard evocations—and often inspirational—for this nickommoh puts to shame what has become known as the day before the launch of the holiday shopping season. (Picture book. 6-9)