Customer Reviews

DK Discoveries: Pompeii

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Of course it's meant for children! (see previous review) To review this as one would an adult text makes little sense. My 71/2 year old and her friends of comparble age love it. It's informative, well written and illustrated, and a good introduction to the subject for its intended audience of 9-12 year olds.

DK Discovery books are good examples of both the best and worst trends in book publishing in the past twenty years. The positive is that printing revolution has allowed DK to produce books that are rich in detailed color illustrations and high quality photographs. This volume is illustrated by Richard Bonson, one of the more skilled illustrators working in children's non-fiction literature. His wonderfully intricate illustrations allow the reader to immerse himself in ancient Roman life.

The weakness of the DK Discovery series is that the book is visually rich but content poor. The destruction of Pempeii is one of the most compelling events of the ancient world and deserves more than the "factoid" content of this book. The value of this book is as a visual supplement to a more serious book.

I went through this book in 15 min. I was expecting more actual pictures from the ruins of Pompeii, but most were drawings. It's definetly for children, but I don't think they'd be that interested in the book. The book talks about Pompeii before the volcano and after. I wouldn't recommend it to someone who is looking for real detail of Pompeii, stick with histoy books.