Stephen Biesty's Castles
Grade 3-5 - Eight castles in Europe, one in Syria, and one in Japan are featured, with a chronological arrangement from the 12th to the 19thcentury. Detailed drawings of each structure fill a spread, followed by a two-page action account of the particular castle - usually a historical event taking place in the course of a single day - accompanied by numerous thumbnail sketches and an occasional fictional character. The parts of the castle mentioned in the text are numbered on the tiny thumbnails, enabling readers to locate them on the large rendering at the beginning of the section. The illustrations of the castles feature cutaways and see-through walls, which are occasionally confusing, and appear to show only parts of the outlying areas. Overall, there is plenty to pore over here, but children will need to look elsewhere for a more complete picture of these magnificent buildings and their many functions.- Lynda S. Poling, Long Beach Public Library, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.