《学校图书馆杂志》(School Library Journal)书评
Gr 5-8-In the first book, a winning blend of facts, maps, and the drama of a well-written story results in an unusual and exciting view of this country's past. Some of the 20 individuals highlighted are well known, such as Daniel Boone, Ben Franklin, and Louis Armstrong. Others are more obscure, like Dame Shirley, a New England woman in the Gold Rush, and Venture Smith, an enslaved six-year-old African prince. Each double-page spread features an introduction, a story with numbered paragraphs relating to the map or illustration, a fact box, and colorful illustrations. All information is carefully researched and includes many primary resources. Any fictionalizing is marked with single quotation marks, while statements with actual historical evidence have double quotes. The second title uses the same format to present 20 sites in American history at the moment of their historical significance, beginning in 1200 (Cahokia) and ending in 1953. Places and times include New Plymouth-1627, Charlestown-1739, Saratoga-1777, Philadelphia-1787, Abilene-1871, and Chicago-1893. The detailed cutaway views of homes, forts, and mills are impressive enough to keep readers looking again and again. These fascinating slices of life stir the imagination and lead to questions and further research. Neither title has a bibliography, but scholars, historians, libraries, and museums are credited in the notes sections. While the books are perfect for individual perusal, educators will delight in the curriculum potential.-Pamela K. Bomboy, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
出版社周刊评论
Two New Atlases of American History by Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley make the past exciting and accessible by designating one important era to each copiously illustrated spread. Young explorers take Journeys in Time, illus. by Rodica Prato, at the sides of Nanabush, a Native American who leads his people to the Great Lakes region; a ship's boy on Christopher Columbus's crew in 1492; and with Big Joe Bailey and Harriet Tubman on the Underground Railroad in 1856, just to name a few. Clearly labeled maps and numbered captions make it easy to follow along. Places in Time, illus. by Randy Jones, uses the same format to take aspiring travelers through a Pecos pueblo in 1627; Philadelphia in 1787; 1849 Fort Laramie; as well as tenement life in New York City in 1916. ( Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
《儿童读物杂志》(Horn Book)书评
(Intermediate, Middle School) These two offerings will not turn geographically challenged youngsters into charting scholars, but they do hold potential for reinforcing location skills and relationship observations in a pleasant, nonthreatening format. Each double-page spread of Journeys takes an individual who was part of a historic movement (such as the Underground Railroad or immigration) and gives a brief narrative outlining his or her circumstances. Added to the text are sequential numbers that indicate major events in each of the twenty journeys. A double-page location map traces the routes each took, using illustrative vignettes marked with corresponding numbers that reference the text. Globes depict journeys spanning continents (the voyage of the Mayflower, for example) and topographical maps show land- or hemisphere-locked expeditions (Daniel Boone on the wilderness road; Louise Clappe in search of gold, sailing from New York to California around Cape Horn), adding visual appeal and demonstrating appropriate map conventions. An inset of a larger map showing the entire journey on a much-reduced scale of miles and giving the appropriate dates introduces each section. Places follows a similar format, using a historical narrative anchored by an individual in a particular setting (such as Ben Franklin in Philadelphia or Sallie Hester in Fort Laramie), and corresponding text and map numbers that indicate important locations. Since, unlike routes, places do not have sequential order, locating specific sites on each illustrated map is less straightforward than in Journeys. The emphasis on reading illustrations rather than large chunks of text widens the audience to include reluctant as well as practiced readers. Both books include an index and are documented through brief paragraphs providing source material and the names of consultants who worked on each section. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
《书目》(Booklist)书评
Gr. 4-6. These thematic companion volumes frame our country's history in two ingenious ways. The first book does it in 20 journeys, from the prehistoric migration of the Anishinabe to young Bui Huu Phong's danger-filled escape from Da Nang to Philadelphia. The second book visits 20 significant places, including the bustling ancient North American city of Cahokia, colonial Charleston, the battlefields of Saratoga and Gettysburg, Ellis Island, and an early 1950s suburban tract house. Remarkably, every one of the episodes or incidents is recast from actual historical accounts, usually of an eyewitness or participant. The painted illustrations are also careful reconstructions: either uncluttered maps on which a red line traces each journey, or elevated or cutaway views of the featured places showing accurately rendered landforms, buildings, and even individual rooms. A key matches significant events or locations in pictures and texts, and a box of background facts ends every spread and helps to create a wider perspective. As the source notes show, Leacock and Buckley have drawn their information not just from published documents but from archives and their own interviews as well. A great way to get readers interested in the U.S.'s past and people. --John Peters