Macchu Picchu: The Story of the Amazing Inkas and Their City in the Clouds (Wonders of the World Book) [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Mann (Author), Amy Crehore (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: Wonders of the World Book

Was there ever a people like the Inkas?

Using slingshots, clubs and stone-tipped spears, this small Andean tribe conquered an area spanning 2,500 miles. Without the use of the wheel, they built a vast and sophisticated network of roads. Without an alphabet, they administered a population of ten million people. With the most primitive of tools, they built cities of stone.

Machu Picchu is as astonishing as its builders. Set in a remote, inaccessible area of the high Andes, this breathtaking city was never found by the Spanish Conquistadores. It is an untouched example of the genius of the Inkas.

Machu Picchu tells the story about the rise of the Inkas and the building of this great city. Award-winning author Elizabeth Mann has become justly famous for engrossing narratives that make distant worlds comprehensible and complex engineering feats accessible. In Machu Picchu, these talents are displayed to their fullest.

Amy Crehore's paintings convey a fabulous world that seems at once intensely real and dream-like. Her luminous pallette is an Inka tapestry unfaded by time.

Wonders of the World series

The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture.

"One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers."
- Booklist

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7-In relating how and why this commanding settlement was built, Mann recounts the history of the Inka people from their origin as a small Andean tribe in the 13th century to the destruction of their empire after the arrival of Pizarro. She smoothly incorporates Inka legend with information on the culture's social and political organization, religious beliefs, and engineering accomplishments. While the Inkas left much in the way of archaeological remains and artifacts, the author makes it clear that much is still unknown about this civilization. Full-page paintings face pages of text; additionally, there are two full-color photos, a map, and a double gatefold detailing the different areas of the site. Although a couple of the illustrations evoke a sense of the majesty of the location, others, with figures engaged in labor or battle, are oddly static. Still, readers will be fascinated by the narrative. Once again, Mann has written an engaging and accessible introduction to one of humankind's great architectural achievements.
Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Machu Picchu, the religious site sacred to the Incas (or Inkas as it is spelled here), is the hub around which the rest of the Incas' story plays out. The city, up in the sky and between two mountains, was made out of stone carved with primitive tools. After beginning with the discovery of the city by Hiram Bingham in 1911, Mann goes back in time to introduce the Incas. It is Mann's comfortable text that makes this so special. She ably brings the Inca's complicated society into focus. For instance, she begins with a question: How can we ever really understand a culture so wildly different from our own, where people celebrated rocks as sacred, thought strips of finely woven cloth were more precious than gold, administered a vast empire without knowledge of money or writing, and sacrificed children on mountain peaks? And unlike some nonfiction, this really answers the questions readers want to know. In some detail Mann explains how the various parts of the empire were conquered and shaped into a whole, how roads were built and communication was facilitated, the concept and concrete place that was Machu Picchu, and how the end came for the Incas. Oil paintings by Amy Crehore range from prosaic to arresting (the scene of a bloody battle). More striking are the few photographs: a young, mummified child surrounded by possessions; high in the mountains, Machu Picchu in the mist. An exceptionally fine entry in the Wonders of the World series. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Mikaya Press (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965049396
• ISBN-13: 978-0965049399
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 10.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,268,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a reader from oregon, April 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Macchu Picchu: The Story of the Amazing Inkas and Their City in the Clouds (Wonders of the World Book) (Hardcover)

I received this book as a gift and it is simply beautiful!If you want to know about the Incas read this book,or just look at the pictures...exquisite!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inka magic, February 13, 2003

By 

Jeekee Young (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macchu Picchu: The Story of the Amazing Inkas and Their City in the Clouds (Wonders of the World Book) (Hardcover)

This book is a delight. The vivid colors and imagination are what separate this book from your typical, dry non-fiction children's book. Obviously, the Inkas had access to all of the colors of nature(not just earthy colors as some might think) and no piece of faded cloth can tell the true story. Just like the Sistine Chapel, the Inka garments were once vibrating with color. The building of Machu Picchu speaks volumes - they had supreme skills in the area of art and design. Highly recommended to students and adults alike.

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too much blue clothing, July 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Macchu Picchu: The Story of the Amazing Inkas and Their City in the Clouds (Wonders of the World Book) (Hardcover)

Loving Peruvian textiles and having visited many exhibits in museums, I was very disappointed at the extensive use of blue and blue-green in the clothing. The Inkas used only natural dyes including indigo but not mostly the textiles were reds, golds, oranges and browns. I wouldn't use this book with students. An excellent book on Peru's textiles - though not a child's book - is "Hidden Threads of Peru" Rowe and Cohen. These are not ancient textiles, but they do show a Peruvian choice of color.