Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of the Ancient Americas: The Everyday Life of America's Native Peoples

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I was a little hesitant to buy this book, since no one had reviewed it and there were no sample pages available, but I'm glad I got it.

There are 4 large sections: Aztec & Maya, Incas, North American Indians, and Arctic Peoples. Each section is set up rather like a DK book, with several color photos (and a few drawings) and text around them. There is lots of information about how each group of people lived, what they believed, some of their history, etc. There are several craft activities for each section, as well.

The weakest section is the North American section, since the information for all groups is together. While readers are informed of the different types of homes, clothing, and general lifestyle between the various cultures, there is little information on any specific culture. Readers wanting information on a particular group (Cherokee, Navajo, etc.) will need an additional source.

Overall, this is a very good beginning place for learning about ancient American cultures & peoples, especially for children from 5-12 years old (With 5 year olds looking at the pictures and being told a little, and perhaps doing a few crafts with help, and older children reading the text for themselves and doing the crafts alone). After reading the appropriate section of this book, readers will be ready to learn more about whatever specific group they are interested in.

I purchased this book to use in my school's Gifted and Talented program at the elementary level. It has been a wonderful resource! I have made many of the craft activities in the book with the classes and leave the book out for the students to use as a reference. It has been a good book to spark interest in areas that they then do more research on. It is also good for giving a general idea of what these ancient civilizations looked like without giving so much information that a young person would tune out.