Mary Mueller
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Bodie: The Town That Belongs to Ghosts
A strong buy for libraries serving middle grade readers.
Despite a rather sensationalized title, this series is genuinely
fascinating. Each book traces the history of a now-deserted town,
explaining its population boom, possible reasons for decline, and
what each abandoned place is like today. With interesting
historical and contemporary photos and well-placed sidebars, these
are solid places to begin research on some of America's stranger
places. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers the following
Abandoned! titles: Bodie, Cliff Dwellings, Roanoke
Island, and Salton Sea Resort.
Living Beside a River
Demonstrating how physical geography affects human settlement, this series is a solid choice for elementary libraries.
Taking a multicultural approach, these generalized volumes provide
overviews of life in different geographic locales. The brief texts
and captioned photos touch on what's unique to the specific
regions; Desert and Mountain unintentionally
highlight stark economic contrasts between the U.S. and other parts
of the world. Each book includes a world map, appended "Fun Facts,"
and a quiz. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following
Places We Live titles: Living in a City, Living in a
Desert, and Living on a Mountain.
Geography Matters in Ancient Egypt
There are countless extant titles about ancient societies, but this series offers a fresh perspective that will help young readers better understand the importance of geographical factors in their histories, making it a strong addition to middle school libraries.
Life in these ancient civilizations is thoroughly explored, with
special emphasis on how the physical geography influenced aspects
of their cultures including geopolitics, farming, and religion.
Superimposed over rather distracting topographical-map backgrounds,
main texts and subtopics are treated in question-and-answer
fashion, supplemented with many illustrations, photographs, maps,
and sidebars. A quiz and research tips conclude each volume.
Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Geography
Matters in Ancient Civilizations titles: Geography Matters in
Ancient Egypt and Geography Matters in the Inca Empire.
At Home with the Ancient Egyptians
Students might flip through these magazine-type books, but they are unlikely to linger for deep reading or reports.
Each volume takes readers "behind the scenes" of the civilization
to cover a wide variety of topics but none of them in any great
detail. The presentation is lively and colorful, with generally
accurate information broken down into small chunks in overabundant
sidebars and text boxes; photographs and illustrations contribute
to the visual busyness. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review
covers the following At Home with... titles: The Ancient
Egyptians, The Ancient Greeks, The Ancient
Romans, The Aztecs, and The Vikings.
Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
Interesting and informative.
These engaging volumes detail everyday life in ancient
civilizations, providing consistently interesting information kids
will want to know. Religion, family life, dwellings, education, and
entertainment are covered, along with the lasting impact each
civilization has had. Frequent "How Do We Know?" sections highlight
primary sources; photographs and illustrations of both past and
present landmarks add visual interest. Reading list, timeline,
websites. Glos., ind. This review covers the following Daily Life
in Ancient Civilizations titles: Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
and Daily Life in the Islamic Golden Age.
Do You Want to Be a Medieval Knight?
While would-be adventurers imagine themselves as legendary figures, they will learn about their cultures, making these books good supplemental choices.
Each volume focuses on how a specific class of people lived in
their civilization. Two-page sections regarding one aspect of life
contain a brief main text surrounded by illustrations and
explanatory captions. While layouts are busy, short blurbs make the
volumes browsable. "Interview" questions determine if readers "have
what it takes" for each role. There are four other spring 2015
books in this series. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Do
You Want to Be a... titles: Do You Want to Be a Medieval
Knight?, Do You Want to Be a Samurai Warrior?, Do You
Want to Be an Ancient Egyptian Princess?, and Do You Want to
Be an Ancient Greek Athlete?.
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