Amazon.com Review
The 20th century began with the invention of Kodak's Brownie camera and the first flight by the Wright brothers and ended with Nelson Mandela's return to political power and the deaths of John F. Kennedy Jr., Mother Teresa, and Princess Diana. And who better to pictorially recount the events of this epoch than
Life magazine? Divided not by decade, but by nine historical clusters of years (1900-13, 1914-19, 1920-29, 1930-39, 1940-45, 1946-63, 1964-75, 1976-92, 1993-99), this photographic chronicle brings to life the amazing, horrifying, poignant, and thrilling moments that made up a century. Each chapter is introduced with an essay by a distinguished children's writer, including Jane Yolen, Avi, Gary Paulsen, Patrick and Fredrick McKissack, and Lois Lowry, and includes special sections called "Turning Points," which trace a trend or event from the beginning to the end of the century. Concluding each chapter are "Requiems," in which the lives of important people who died during those years are recalled. But it's the more than 380 remarkable photographs from
Life magazine's archives that make this volume truly epic. Young readers who spent only a few years in the previous century will look with awe and wonder at the pictures taken during their parents' and grandparents' time, telling about Woodstock, the Holocaust, Babe Ruth, Bill Gates, the discovery of atomic power, and Sigmund Freud. From politics to art to technology to science to social change, this book touches on it all, and will be a tremendous resource for years to come. (Ages 12 and older)
--Emilie Coulter
From Publishers Weekly
Adapted by Amy Sklansky from the adult bestseller LIFE: Our Century in Pictures, this superb collection of carefully chosen, powerful images with pithy captions captures the events, people and culture that shaped the last 100 years. The volume overall does not go into the same amount of detail as Jennings and Brewster's recent The Century for Young People; on the other hand, Stolley, a longtime Time-Life journalist, covers events on a global scale. An ideal introduction for young people because of its highly visual focus, the book juxtaposes events close to home with those far away; in one spread, for example, a caption for a photo of Margaret Sanger discusses her 1916 arrest in New York for preaching contraception and appears alongside a picture of Dublin's Easter Monday uprising the same year. Stolley divides the century into nine chapters or "epochs," each briefly introduced by an award-winning children's author, including Lois Lowry, Jerry Spinelli and Katherine Paterson. Patricia and Fredrick McKissack's "Changes" (covering 1946-1963), for instance, offers a personal look at postwar America and sets the stage for the burgeoning civil rights and women's movements with all their triumphs and disappointments. Each chapter includes a "Turning Point" that describes such pivotal developments as space exploration and such cultural phenomena as the American musical, and concludes with a "Requiem" commemorating the deceased who defined the era. A visual treasure trove. Ages 10-up. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
