Egyptian hieroglyphs have gotten far more press, but, as Coulter (co-author, To Be a Princess, p. 1355) shows, the ancient Maya carved (or in rare surviving examples, wrote) symbols that are every bit as mysterious, revealing—and useful for creating secret messages. Beginning with the 19th-century rediscovery of Maya cities and culture, Coulter traces the slow deciphering of Maya writing—without the benefit of a Rosetta Stone. Bringing readers along, she introduces each step with a storyteller’s gift, keeping it fascinating, while sacrificing none of the facts. She pauses along the way for brief disquisitions on chocolate, the ball game known as “pitz,” Maya folklore, beauty secrets, calendars, numbers, and how glyphs were combined to create names and narrative. Recognizing that the symbols are hard to draw freehand, she concludes with a simplified alphabet and mini-glossary printed with raised ink, allowing young enthusiasts to rub such messages as “I have 150 friends,” or “[My] brother/sister [is a] yellow dog.” Adding to the fun, there are party tips, ideas for projects, and games. A grand profusion of photos, drawings, and stylized new art on lushly glossy paper further brightens this lively, inventive, eye-opening introduction. (index, selected bibliography) (Nonfiction. 7-11)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-316-15883-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
Strong rhythms and occasional full or partial rhymes give this account of P.T. Barnum’s 1884 elephant parade across the newly opened Brooklyn Bridge an incantatory tone. Catching a whiff of public concern about the new bridge’s sturdiness, Barnum seizes the moment: “’I will stage an event / that will calm every fear, erase every worry, / about that remarkable bridge. / My display will amuse, inform / and astound some. / Or else my name isn’t Barnum!’” Using a rich palette of glowing golds and browns, Roca imbues the pachyderms with a calm solidity, sending them ambling past equally solid-looking buildings and over a truly monumental bridge—which soars over a striped Big Top tent in the final scene. A stately rendition of the episode, less exuberant, but also less fictionalized, than Phil Bildner’s Twenty-One Elephants (2004), illustrated by LeUyen Pham. (author’s note, resource list) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-44887-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2005
The author of Cod’s Tale (2001) again demonstrates a dab hand at recasting his adult work for a younger audience. Here the topic is salt, “the only rock eaten by human beings,” and, as he engrossingly demonstrates, “the object of wars and revolutions” throughout recorded history and before. Between his opening disquisition on its chemical composition and a closing timeline, he explores salt’s sources and methods of extraction, its worldwide economic influences from prehistoric domestication of animals to Gandhi’s Salt March, its many uses as a preservative and industrial product, its culinary and even, as the source for words like “salary” and “salad,” its linguistic history. Along with lucid maps and diagrams, Schindler supplies detailed, sometimes fanciful scenes to go along, finishing with a view of young folk chowing down on orders of French fries as ghostly figures from history look on. Some of Kurlansky’s claims are exaggerated (the Erie and other canals were built to transport more than just salt, for instance), and there are no leads to further resources, but this salutary (in more ways than one) micro-history will have young readers lifting their shakers in tribute. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-399-23998-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
