Catherine M. Andronik

A beautifully illustrated biography of Hatshepsut, aimed for upper elementary students. The content is interesting and the writing style is okay, however the book's potential for this age group is somewhat dimmed by its storyboarding. It reads more like a collection of vignettes than a cohesive narrative, and has some design elements that might be problematic.

The book starts out with a potentially confusing vertical timeline oriented with 1000 BC at the top and 3100 BC at the bottom, which reads "backwards" at first glace, and has no note to clarify that the more recent events are listed first. The next spread uses Hatshepsut's mortuary temple to introduce the reader to her, mentions some brief highlights of her life, and notes that the temple has since been defaced by vandals. The following pages go on to describe her childhood and the fact that she was being prepared for life as a queen. The spread afterwards includes a description of her ancestral dynasty with several names and places listed, but is several pages away from the timeline and map before the introduction. Then the narrative jumps back to her childhood and goes more or less chronologically from there. Each 2-page spread is headed with a related, but unidentified, quote, sometimes directly from Hatshepsut, sometimes about her, and one by Senenmut referring to himself.

Overall, this a good book on an interesting topic, written fairly well. With some slight adjustments, it would be even better. As it is, the book has a nice clean layout and great illustrations, which makes it quite appealing to browse through.… (más)

Kind of a silly book, not exactly scrupulous about facts (for example, the story, apocryphal anyway, of Caroline Lamb presenting herself naked on a serving tray to her husband is transmuted--because, why not--into yet another Byron rumor; "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers" is referred to as an essay, implies that "She Walks in Beauty" was written about his wife, etc.). Breezy and entertaining, if you don't care if what you're reading is true or not.

Amusing line: "Byron being Byron, love didn't come in a triangle. It came in something closer to a pentagram."… (más)

This book is about Nicolaus Copernicus and how he changed astronomy. This book doesn't have a plot line, but rather a bunch of facts about Copernicus. Copernicus lived in modern day Poland (as the book starts out). Copernicus lived in a time of the Geocentric universe (when the Earth was thought to be at the center of the universe). However there were some things that no one could explain with the Geocentric Model. Copernicus saw these problems and said that the sun must be in the at at center.

I didn't like this book too much because there wasn't a story, but it was still interesting. I did like how at the end it told you how to do your own projects. I like the concept on how it teaches you about a man of science who a lot of people don't know about. I didn't like it because it did nothing to keep your attention. It does tell you how he died. It also tells you about how long it took everyone to believe the Heliocentric universe (the sun is in the center of the universe).… (más)