Be Seated: A Book About Chairs [Library Binding]

James Cross Giblin (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

Traces the evolution of the chair throughout human history and across the globe, utilizing photographs, artworks, and advertisements to reveal how the styles of chairs influence and reflect the people who use and design them.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7-As in his Milk (1986), From Hand to Mouth (1987), and Let There Be Light (1988, all Crowell), Giblin continues his fascination with the ordinary. In Be Seated, he looks at the history, technological development, and social significance of chairs in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the United States from prehistory to the present. From Arab societies where chairs were rarely used to avant-garde, 20th-century America where they can be unsittable art objects, the text provides insights into the daily lives of various peoples-how they rested, ate, and related to one another. Inspired by "Comfortably Seated," an exhibit of antique and modern chairs at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1986, this book is attractively and abundantly illustrated with black-and-white photos. Giblin once again excells at making social history accessible and enjoyable.
Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-8. As in his books on windows and eating utensils, Giblin takes a seemingly ordinary topic, researches its history in different cultures, and shows it in a new light, revealing fascinating details set in a solid framework of information. Beginning with cultures that traditionally have not included chairs in their homes, he follows the development of stools, thrones, and chairs through ancient Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome; the revival of furniture making in Europe after the Dark Ages; the development of the chair in America; the story of the Golden Stool of the Ashanti; and modern designers' chairs as sculpture and furniture. Appearing throughout the book, black-and-white photographs show actual stools and chairs as well as paintings and sculptures that include seated figures. Good design, good look, good book. Carolyn Phelan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Library Binding: 144 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (November 19, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060215380
• ISBN-13: 978-0060215385
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,326,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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