Great Wonders of the World [Hardcover]

Russell Ash (Author), Richard Bonson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2000 | Age Level: 9 and up

From the Great Pyramid at Giza to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, recent and beautiful illustrations illuminate the wonder of these marvelous achievements of the ancient world. Compare with those wonders of both the modern and the natural world. Divided into distinct categories for ease of reference, this visually exciting book explores ancient sites, views the modern world's tallest building, and makes you marvel at nature's most miraculous creations -- all with more than 50 specially commissioned illustrations including reconstructions, cross sections, maps, city plans, and useful timelines. With a clear, concise text, this invaluable reference is a wonder in itself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A 2000 Parents' Choice® Silver Honor Winner -- From Parents' Choice®

About the Author

Russell Ash is the uncontested king of lists. Not simply a career, listmaking is his legend, facts his friends, statistics his sanctuary, trivia his triumph.

He was descended from a family of craftsmen who were London goldsmiths and silversmiths for several generations since the 17th century -- the most notable being Claudius Ash (1792-1854), one of the principal inventors of false teeth. His father was a bookbinder at the British Museum. Born in 1946, educated at Bedford Modern School, Mr. Ash attended Durham University where he earned a Joint Honours BA in Anthropology and Geology.

Russell Ash began his career in publishing as a picture researcher in 1967; he moved on in 1973 to establish his own publishing company, Ash & Grant, and was a director of Weidenfeld & Nicholson and Pavilion Books. Mr. Ash has spent most of the past 30 years as a freelance writer and contributor to almost 100 non-fiction titles on such subjects as art (particularly the Impressionists and other late nineteenth-century painters), animals real and fictitious (he is the official "biographer" of Paddington Bear), and humor.

He has compiled various award-winning popular reference titles, including the perennial bestselling Top Ten of Everything, which has also inspired a weekly network children's television series in the UK (in which he appears). He has also written Incredible Comparisons, which features a variety of fascinating objects side by side with accompanying statistics. The World in One Day is his 1997 bestseller for children, chronicling all the facts about daily life. His latest children's book, Factastic Millennium Facts, is packed with intriguing information and entertaining anecdotes covering the key worldwide political, social , and cultural events of the last 1,000 years.

Russell Ash is currently an author, occasional journalist, and packager of books in the UK and US. He lives in a large Victorian house (which he is restoring) in Sussex, England with his wife, daughter, and two sons. He has recently returned to the family tradition by learning the craft of silversmithing.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789465051
• ISBN-13: 978-0789465054
• Product Dimensions: 12.3 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #650,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Geography

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't expect too much from it, April 14, 2006

By 

Elena (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Wonders of the World (Hardcover)

I shall agree that the illustrations are great. However, the book contains very limited information about the wonders or their history. If you like to look at the pictures along this book is for you, but if you like to read about the Ancient wonders you need to look somewhere else. There are many books that cover this subject in a lot more details.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book! Homeschoolers should consider..., October 9, 2008

By 

Hiding-out-with-my-Kindle (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Great Wonders of the World (Paperback)

I bought this book as an addition to our homeschool library and was very pleased. In the DK tradition, it has plenty of great pictures and easy to read text in easily-digestable portions. My 5th grader liked this one a lot. You should consider adding it to your home library - especially if you homeschool (or perhaps, especially if you DON'T).

As a side note, we also bought a VHS on the great wonders (narated by Brosnan?) and loved that, too. Theres something about seeing (a dramatization of) the building of these wonders in action that makes it even more astonishing.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! Buy This Book! It's Outstanding, December 14, 2001

By 

Sunisurekick "sunisurekick" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Wonders of the World (Hardcover)

This book can only be described with the use of the most superlative terms only. What a wonderful foundation book to fill any child with awe at the beauty and variety of man-made wonders in the world. The illustration, photographs and texts are thrilling! Two pages toward the end of the book show Natural Wonders, and I can't wait to see more of these. Buy this book.