From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6–Landau's writing is clear and presented in large type. Modern photographs, reproductions, and illustrations abound. A two-page map shows the growth of the Roman Empire over time. Society, government, occupations, engineering, religion, housing, etc., are all explained in brief chapters. However, the inclusion of Max the dog as Landau's cartoon time-travel partner back to the ancient world is just silly fluff. Fortunately, their banter (and, indeed, their presence) can be ignored easily enough as it does little to impact the text. This book is better written than Fiona Macdonald's First Facts about the Ancient Romans (Peter Bedrick, 1997) and nicely balances John Malam's You Wouldn't Want to Be a Roman Gladiator! (Watts, 2001). All told, this is an acceptable introduction to ancient Rome.–Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Gr. 3-5. This entry in the new Exploring Ancient Civilizations with Elaine Landau series will give middle-grade readers a good, basic framework on which to hang further study of the early Roman Empire. Landau opens with accounts of the city's legendary and historical origins, then continues with general remarks about Roman social classes, trade, religion, food, clothing, engineering feats, architecture, and more. Illustrations feature art reproductions, relatively recent color photos of sites, and jokey caricatures of the author and her dog posing as tour guides. Brief lists of paper and Web resources round out the text. This primer serves as a sound gateway to more detailed offerings on the topic, such as DK's Eyewitness Ancient Rome by Simon James (2004). Other destinations in Landau's series include ancient China, ancient Egypt, and the world of the Vikings. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
