Small Worlds: Maps And Map Making [Hardcover]

Karen Romano Young (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Series: Small Worlds

From ancient maps to computer maps, kids learn the language, function, and beauty of maps. Profiles of mapmakers highlight this unusual career. A beautifully designed four-color tour of the topic.

Walking tour maps, brain scans, satellite maps and subway maps show large and small worlds on flat surfaces. Kids learn how maps are put together in layers like sandwiches, how to use a map to get oriented, and the use of hundreds of different maps. They meet mapmakers who personalize the art of cartography.
Karen Romano Young was a PW Flying Start. She is the author of several novels and nonfiction books. Her excitement about maps is contagious.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up-Young begins by describing a flight in to Chicago's O'Hare Airport and how a map of the terminal (shown in full-page illustration) helped her get through the huge building and find her connecting gate. This incident sets the tone for the rest of the book, which, through numerous color drawings, reproductions, and photographs, takes readers on a tour of the many different kinds of maps that help people to navigate neighborhoods, cities, states, the globe, or even outer space. The technical aspects of cartography such as the use of scale, color, and overlays are explained, again with ample illustrations and examples. This book also gives a history of mapmaking and shows all the difficulties that early geographers encountered when attempting to create a graphic representation of the world. How scientists in the 1700s solved the problem of charting longitude is also explained. This is a worthy addition to any geography section. Barbara Taylor's Maps and Mapping (Kingfisher, 1993) is a good choice for younger readers.
David Pauli, Hillsboro Public Library, OR
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Reference (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 043909545X
• ISBN-13: 978-0439095457
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #417,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for every family home library, January 1, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Small Worlds: Maps And Map Making (Hardcover)

"Every map tells a story," and this colorful and engaging tour of the world of maps tells dozens of stories about maps, mapmaking, and mapmakers. There are ancient maps, subway maps, a map of the location of dogs in the author's neighborhood (she hates to be chased when she jogs), weather maps, relief maps, maps of the stars (both celestial and Hollywood), and a map of the brain. The writing style is both informal and informative. If only all science and social studies textbooks were written this well!