Jennifer ThermesRecensioni

Comprehensive and magnificent. The endpapers (front and back) provide a timeline from "circa 15,000 years ago or more" to 2022, noting that "this timeline is only a partial list of events." In between, maps and illustrations in soft pastels are paired with text that describes the often brutal history of what is now America, looking unblinkingly at European colonization, enslavement of Africans, wars, broken treaties, the civil rights movement, and September 11. She concludes, "It takes courage for someone to leave the place where they were born and set out for a new land. Sometimes, people have no other choice. Laws and rules and policies will come and go, but humans will always move about the earth in search of a better life."

Back matter includes an afterword and select sources (books and websites).

Essential.

I have to say upfront that I don’t believe in using horses (or any animal or human child) in any way for any sort of financial gain. I don’t believe in riding horses either, even though I know there are good therapeutic programs and in some cases great love between horses & human riders. One half star off for that personal reason. 4-1/2 stars. That said, I will review the book.

The book is pretty much perfect. The illustrations, including the illustrated pictorial maps, are beautifully done and I loved them all. I could spend ages looking at the pictures.

The information provided is first rate excellent. Great history, great info about different horses & places and horses in human history. An author’s note, a short list of sources, and a timeline are included in the back. Any young (or any age) reader interested in horses is bound to appreciate and enjoy this book. I was never horse obsessed but I have several friends who were (and/or are) and this book would be perfect for them. I wish it had been around when I was young because I can think of a few friends I’d have bought it for as their birthday gift.

Until I had the book in hand I hadn’t realized that it was written & illustrated by the same person who did the book Manhattan: Mapping the Story of an Island another book I loved. I’ll be looking out for more books by Jennifer Thermes.

Highly recommended for anyone who has interest in the subject.

This author's specialty is illustrated maps, Darwin's five year voyage is an obviously good subject. The maps, eight in all, are cartoon-like and also informative. The end-papers consist of maps and an associated time-line, and are quite nice.

This book repeats once more the myth of Darwin's squeamishness, I quote "the sight of blood made him queasy". It also dips into romantic paradox, clumsily, as in this passage: "Charles was surrounded by the buzz of millions of insects, yet the jungle wrapped him in velvet silence." Who can that sentence be for? It also transfers the beetle-in-mouth episode to Darwin's childhood years from his college years. I suspect that the author did "research" by reading Kathryn Lasky's book "One Beetle Too Many", and failed to notice Lasky's brief historical note at the start of the book about the beetle-in-mouth episode.

The illustrations are light and a bit whimsical and include many animals, some labeled some not. There is one cutaway view of the interior of the Beagle, showing a bunch of Galapagos turtles waiting to be turned into dinner which is probably true to the life, although a bit out of scale.

There are some endnotes containing anecdotes and small facts as well as a brief capsule biography.

The author reminds the reader several times about how Darwin's time is different from our own. It's important to understand that, but I'm not sure her remarks are very effective.

There are a few malapropisms or grammar errors. I'll note just one, "As the Beagle blew across the sea". "was blown", "sailed", "travelled", would all have been better choices.

Mostly correct, pleasantly drawn, and reasonably informative, this is a good book for children.½

This book follows Charles Darwin from his childhood with bugs to his aspirations for what he wants to be as an adult. The book follows him to college and on to his sailing trips and the things that he saw along the way. I would recommend this book to children who want to know more about Charles Darwin and who like to look at pictures while reading.

The story of Darwin’s adventures as the naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle takes readers to the coasts of South America, the waters of Tierra del Fuego, the Galápagos Islands, and to the Cape of Good Hope. Young readers will enjoy the beautiful illustrations and understand why Darwin made the natural world his life’s work. Author’s Note. Fun Facts.

A picture book filled with maps and all sorts of information about the island and history of Manhattan. Starting with basics on the flora and fauna of the region, the arrival of the Lenape natives, moving on to the arrival of Dutch, who “bought” the island for $24 and some beads. Jennifer Thermes then traces the development of New York City, recognizing contributions by those often left aside (slaves, immigrants, and indigenous people.) The maps showing the city’s development are a joy, including wonderful illustrations, of the marvels – both natural and manmade – such as bridges, subways, skyscrapers, Central Park, etc. Sadly, my library copy covered the inside front and back covers, which have not-to-be-missed content for readers. Recommended for readers of all ages.

Manhattan is one of five boroughs of New York City. This densely populated island is one of the original counties of the state of New York. It’s been described as the cultural, financial, and entertainment capital of the world.
Read the recently published children’s book on this topic, then learn more at the website:
MANHATTAN: MAPPING THE STORY OF AN ISLAND by Jennifer Thermes takes readers back through time examining how this island has evolved over the past 400 years. Filled with fascinating historical maps, informative sidebars, and illustrations of specific people and places, picture book readers learn about both the natural world and the people who have inhabited this metropolis.
The Historical NYC Maps & Atlases from the New York Public Library web page provide links to historical maps of Manhattan from 17th through the 20th century. Students will enjoy comparing these historical maps to the book’s illustrations.
Historical NYC Maps & Atlases
https://on.nypl.org/2yuGpTr
ARC courtesy of Abrams Books for Young Readers

This is a wonderful book, an illustrated historical atlas of Manhattan designed for your people. It is beautifully illustrated by the author, Jennifer Thermes. The endpapers show a larger map of the island with the south in the front and the north in the back. The front cover is a pastiche of lower Manhattan, showing the pre-European trees and fields (on the left), the middle showing the Broadway neighborhood of 200 years ago, and a modern day vista with skyscrapers stretching to the lower east side featuring the Brooklyn Bridge. The rear cover repeating the eighteenth page in the book with a colonial type map. No electric streetcars are shown (the only thing I missed): the streetcars shown on the large drawing of the Brooklyn Bridge are actually cable cars. Electric railways in Manhattan got their electricity through a third rail between the tracks or from batteries if they operated close to the riverfronts.½

I enjoyed this book; it was a great read. I knew of the Appalachian trail, but I didn't know anyone walked and hiked the whole thing without stopping except only to sleep and eat. Being 67 years old, I would have never guessed she would have finished the trail much less even start the trail. She had great perseverance and determination in hiking an finishing this trail. The trail is 2,190 miles long and goes through 11 states, which is 5 million steps for a human to walk. She met many great people and animals along the way, but the best and most desired place was to be alone with herself in the woods between the trees and plants. I think her message was to never give up and follow your dreams because anything is possible. If the reader doesn't believe that just look at her age, she was 67 years old and still completed what she wanted too. Age is just a number anything is possible!½

Spectacular new book! Interesting to read, and full of engaging illustrations.

10 star book! Except that there is no way for it to not abruptly end, unfortunately. It covers the period from 20,000-10,000 years ago to 2018. Actually, millions of years ago but 20,000 years back in human history/habitation of the area. So anything important that happens in/about Manhattan 2019 and into the future will not be covered.

This picture book is so dense with information and images that it felt as though I was reading a full length history book. It took me longer to go from start to finish than it generally takes for me to read a book of any length. Primarily that was because I enjoyed poring over every detail in all the many maps and the accompanying illustrations.

I love maps in books and this is a book of many maps and map details. Of course, I was going to love it!!!

That is takes place in Manhattan, NYC, a place for which I have mostly fond memories, in addition to being full of maps made it special for me. This brought back many memories and had me longing for a repeat trip to Manhattan even more than my usual wish for one.

The maps and other pictures are gorgeous and contain so much great information. I love how dogs and certain other animals have repeated appearances though various time periods.

I learned a lot from the book, about the past and the near present too.

In addition to many detailed maps over time and illustrations, some of the text contents to give an idea, in chronological order: millions of year ago, Native Peoples, the English, Dutch New Amsterdam 1625-1664, British New York 1664-1783, the Collect Pond, the American Revolution and the British occupation 1776-1783, New York New York U.S.A., A Grid for a City 1811, the Great Fire of 1835, A Plan for a Park and Seneca Village, Central Park, A Growing City the 1880s, Immigration and the Island, the Gilded Age 1870-1900, Bridges, Skyscrapers, Hurrican Sandy, Manhattan Today, and Afterword. Okay, all that tells so little. There is so much detail in pictures and words. I hadn’t known George Washington was sworn in the then Capital, for instance. In the back there is an extensive tiny print full page Time Line with some events & details that don’t make it into the book proper and a page of select sources including other books, websites, museums, and a just for fun short section. There is so much more covered than what I put in this paragraph. So much!

As with all books I love I have an especially hard time reviewing this book. I cannot adequately describe it or do it justice. If I was in a position to buy even one book right now I would likely purchase this one.

Highly, highly recommended for independent readers of all ages who have any interest in any of the following: Manhattan, NYC, American history, natural history especially of the general area, and map lovers, and those who appreciate beautiful illustrations.

Note: I thought I was the first patron to borrow this from the library (I was the one who requested that the library purchase this book for circulation) but it came to me a bit damaged. I was almost glad. The inside front and back covers had been taped down in such a way that they covered important content (crucial text as well as pictures!) on the inside front and back covers. I find that so annoying, but normally if I couldn’t see under the flaps I’d carefully look at a copy at a bookstore just to look at the hidden portions but this way I was able to see everything as I read. I can tell this wasn’t done by a librarian for the benefit of borrowers because it wasn’t done in a clean or professional way; a bit of both of the book’s pages was torn so I couldn’t really be glad that the book came to me this way. It’s a beautiful collectable type book so it’s a shame, though it is perfectly readable as is.

This picture book tells the story of Emma "Grandma" Gatewood's thru-hike of the Appalachian trail for a kid audience. The illustrations are nice (the various maps of the trail are standouts), and I suspect the idea of a grandmother setting out on her own with a knapsack to hike from Georgia to Maine would spark the imaginations of a lot of kids. Some good light info on the trail and what you might find there, including a longer text write-up (as well as a timeline) of the history of the trail and of Gatewood's walking it at the end of the book. I enjoyed this and am sending it to one of my nieces for her birthday.

great story!!!!!

I enjoyed this story with its beautifully drawn pictures. Grandma Gatewood is a plain simple woman who at age 67 in 1955 decides to hike through the Appalachian Trail. I loved the illustrated maps allowing readers to visit specific places on the Appalachian Trail. I see this book also as girl power it teaches us that girls can do whatever we set our minds to.

I found myself fascinated my Charles Darwin as a person instead of a historical figure. He seemed so human and peculiar and curious! In the beginning it says teacher’s didn’t find him to be very smart, but that he was always collecting and exploring. I think it’s important they added some of these human qualities to a man that changed the world so much, because in this book, he’s just a guy doing what he likes even if that means he has little support and has to live on a ship for 5 years to do it. I also think it’s cool that they added in the fun facts that Charles Darwin didn’t agree with slavery and would argue with the ship captain about it. Charles Darwin was out of the norm for his day and age, and this shows kids you don’t have to fit in to make a difference.

good story!!½

Enjoyable children's book that shows life in a house built over 200 years comparing the original owners to today's owners. I liked how history of society and inventions is woven into the story. I especially liked how the contrasts are shown side by side so readers can compare the differences.

The tradition of hiding old shoes in houses is a very old and was practiced during the 1600 and 1700s. This story is about a boy who receives new shoes and is filled with confidence because as he grows into his shoes, he grows as a boy into a man. His old shoes are hidden for good luck and fortune. As he ages and has a daughter, he tells her that they will hide her shoes as well. It is an uplifting and adorable story. Many people and children do not know about this old tradition so it will be fun to read and discuss this book.