Customer Reviews

What's Inside?

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
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My family saw Giles LaRoche at our public library. The original 3-D art work for this book is amazing. The flat pictures in the book are equally impressive. It has been 2 months since the presentation, my children are still talking about the Tomb page and the Tower in Indonesia.
Giles also visited our school's kindergarten class. The paper cut homes done by the class were very detailed (for their age). If you are an art teacher, this would be a great addition to your library.
The facts in the book are higher level reading, so you will need to read it to younger students. There are many interesting details about each location.

Sometimes the outside of a structure can belie the amazing things that can be seen or discovered inside. Take for example, the seemingly uncomplicated view archaeologist Howard Carter had of a simple sealed door. It didn't really look like much at all, but when the sealed door was opened for the first time it revealed the amazing tomb of King Tutankamun. The stunning discovery wowed the archaeological world because the tomb's "treasures included the king's mummy, a painted wood state of his head, gold and silver chests and chariots, chairs and even food." What you see is not always what you get.

This book is one of discovery. You are presented with the frontis of a building and are asked who or what is inside. This is where the reader's learning experience begins. The reader will not only have a visual of what is behind the first picture, but will also learn many other things about a particular structure. He or she will learn its name, location, date of construction, the dimensions, what materials were used in its construction, where it can be visited today and a "little known fact" about it.

Structures that were explored include the Tomb of Tutankamun, The Parthenon (Temple of Athena Polias), the Temple of Kukulcan (Él Castillo), Sakyamuni Pagoda (Wooden Pagoda), Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun or the Blacksmith's Gate), Alcazar (castle) of Segovia, Independence Hall, a Shaker dairy barn, a circus tent or "big top," the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Sydney Opera House, Petronas Twin Towers, the Georgia Aquarium, and a little surprise behind a lit room under a slate-shingled roof.

This was an exciting, educational tour of many different types of structures found around the world. I enjoyed pausing to think about who or what might be behind a door or inside a structure before actually turning the page to find out what was hidden there. On the next page there was a cut away or peek inside each structure. Some of these illustrations were quite detailed and, without exception, very fascinating. The illustration of the inside of the Sydney Opera house, a bas-relief cut-paper collage like every one in this book, was stunning. This trip around the world was a lot of fun and, by default, amazingly educational!

My child found this book very interesting. It really made her curious and kept her attention.

THIS BOOK IS GREAT FOR ALL AGES AND IT TEACHES YOU SO MUCH AND IT IS ALSO GREAT BECAUSE AFTER YOU READ IT YOU CAN VISIT SOME OF THESE PLACES AND THEN YOU CAN READ ABOUT THE PLAC YOU VISITED