From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6?Once again, the creators of Bats, Bugs, and Biodiversity (1995) and The Great Antler Auction (1996, both S & S) have combined clear, informative, color photographs with simply stated, easy-to-comprehend prose to take readers along on "an ultimate field trip." Here, they follow a group of students from Hannibal, MO, on their week-long visit to Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, a research and teaching establishment in Cortez, CO. The youngsters learn about archaeology and the ancestral Puebloans by studying artifacts, touring ancient sites, participating in an on-going dig, and trying out skills and games from the past. The pages are in a rainbow of colors that add to the liveliness created by quotes from the kids and the action photographs. The well-organized volume includes a series of questions that encourage readers to think about archaeological quandaries and to reconsider and revise their answers as they go along. Up-to-date theories and interpretations are an important asset. This book gives readers a solid sense of both the world of a current-day archaeologist and the world of the ancient Native Americans from the Four Corners region, as well as a good introduction to Crow Canyon and its staff.?Darcy Schild, Schwegler Elementary School, Lawrence, KS
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
This scrapbook chronicle of an archaeological field trip combines photo album with scientific inquiry, following a format identical to Goodman's previous venture, Bats, Bugs, and Biodiversity (1995). Packing water bottles and smelling of sunscreen, a group of eighth graders from Hannibal, Missouri, embark on a field trip much more than a bus ride away to the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, aiming to dig up the past of ancestral Puebloans (formerly called Anasazi), who lived on mesas and canyon tops of the Southwest desert over 700 years ago. Corn-grinding tools masquerade as stones, an ancient fingerprint hides in the mortar of bricks, a small animal skull poses the puzzle--pet or food source? Inklings of a way of life unfold for the participants and readers, as the adults emphasize that it's not ``what you find, it's what you find out.'' The dialogue sounds scripted and stiff; information and theories are detailed in a more successful narrative form. Speculation as to the fate of the ancestral Puebloans is addressed in periodic insets titled ``Why Did They Leave?'' Interspersed with sweeping full-color postcard views of canyon and kiva are more candid snapshots. Readers will vicariously follow along as the joking junior archaeologists piece together fragments of history both scientifically and experientially. (glossary, further reading) (Nonfiction. 9-12) --
Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
