Customer Reviews

Journey from the Dawn: Life With the World's First Family

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

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read it in about 2-3 hours. My sons - ages 8 and 6 have looked through this book with me and I read some of it to them. It was a bit long for them to want to read it in one sitting, so the best bet when using this book with kids is to spread it out over time and really discuss it. They liked the pictures and the illustrations/drawings of what the animals looked like long ago compared with today's related animals. This is a great book for children and explaining evolution to them. I really liked that it was a fictional book with characters and lots of "real life" happenings. I could totally imagine how this First Family lived. I highly recommend this book. It is very informative and educational!

In many ways this book is uncategorizeable. This is the only fiction storybook of its kind -- with insets that include scientific data and images to support the details of the story. Notice that I keep saying the word "story." This book tells the story of "a day in the life of ..." a family from 3 million years ago.

It is a children's book (filled with rich drawings) that is best read aloud by an adult or shared and discussed by a class in an elementary school, middle school, or perhaps even high school. One friend used this book in a variety of ways while home schooling his elementary school-aged child (discussing biology, family structure, and evolution, among other topics). "Journey from the Dawn" provides the ultimate multidisciplinary approach to learning: art, creative writing, and various areas of science all are included. Clearly, this book is meant to be examined, discussed, and enjoyed by people of any age.

What should be noted is that the storyline is based on evolution and that some topics covered in the book may be considered too "mature" by some parents of smaller children. Specifically, the mother gives birth during the story and the mother's breasts are depicted in the drawings (of course, all of the characters look like primates ...). By stating these "warnings," I do NOT mean to detract from the book, merely to enable informed decisions about it. The authors present the material (text and drawings) in an engaging and inciteful manner, with a focus on providing information through vivid storytelling.

The story is fun. The images are beautiful. The information is interesting. This book provides a glimpse into a world that in some areas still exists, a world where wild animals run free and volcanoes erupt. Lions, hyenas, hippos, and honey-engorged ants all appear in this book. Even if you only look at the pictures, or only read the text, or only skim through the inserts, this book is a joy to read. I am sorry that it is out of print. I wish that more people could enjoy it, as I do.

Of the many books in our home, my daughter most often picks this book at reading time. Of course, I could only read a few pages at a time and we do discuss what we read; there's a lot of information, at this age, she has a limited understanding of what this information means, but, to my surprise, she really likes this book. I'm sure her understanding of this information will change as she gets older. I have learned to like it because it really stirs her imagination and constantly asks many questions.
Unfortunately, this book has a known problem of the pages coming unglued from the spine. I would have given it five stars if not for that.

This book is wonderful. The author is great and very talented. The seller was very good when there was a problem with the spine glue coming undone.

Journey from the Dawn

Dr. Donald C. Johanson, a foremost anthropologist, is president of the Institute of Human Origins in Berkeley California. Kevin O' Farrell is a museum designer who has worked with every major science museum in North America.. This book of stories illustrates what life was like 3 million years ago in the constant struggle for existence and survival. The hominid figures are imagined. Their body shapes are like humans, their faces are ape-like on a human shaped skull. I guess they know what they are doing with these drawings, which are based on known facts. Did these people get enough calories from the food they ate (as shown in this book)?

Fossilization is the process where inorganic elements like calcium and silicon replace the organic molecules in bones and teeth that are in watery sediments. This provides evidence about life from millions of years ago. Thermal waters have high concentrations of minerals that make the water undrinkable and often poisonous. A petrified forest must be the result of flooded land. The distribution of food influences the size of primate groups. Small concentrations of food leads to small groups; large amounts of food leads to large groups. Closely related animals tend to feed together. [Still true today?] The most feared carnivore in Africa is the army ant.