Children of the Past

January 1, 2017

Gr 5-8-In this original take on archaeology, Huey visits five sites, from prehistory to Colonial America, that show extensive evidence about the children who lived there. Huey explains that kids have always played and learned to become members of their societies, just as they do today. The sites reveal how children painted caves in prehistoric Europe, sat in toolmaking "classes" in Stone Age Europe, made and decorated pottery in pre-Columbian North America, and played and worked in Colonial Jamestown and Fort Mose, FL, which was a unique community of formerly enslaved people who escaped from the British colonies. Each chapter opens with a child in a hypothetical situation based upon the site history and then discusses the featured society and its history, describing what recent archaeological scholarship has illuminated about the society and its children. Huey also examines current archaeological tools and techniques. Attractive color photos of the \ locations and artifacts enhance the text. With the exception of the frequently overlooked Fort Mose, most of the sites have been covered in general surveys, such as Richard Panchyk's widely held Archaeology for Kids: Uncovering the Mysteries of Our Past, 25 Activities, or in history texts. However, this book is certain to capture and hold readers' attention and help them understand that kids' history is human history. VERDICT A fine purchase for history and archaeology collections.-Mary Mueller, Rolla Public Schools, MO

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2017
Children of the present have more in common than they may think with those who lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Archaeologist Huey pieces together clues from sites in North America and Western Europe to reveal how children's lives were different and similar in five different eras. She examines finds from Western Europe in 18,000 B.C.E.; hunter-gatherers in Europe in 6,000 B.C.E.; Iroquois in North America in 1,000 C.E.; the Jamestown, Virginia, colony of the early 1600s; and free African-Americans in Fort Mose, Florida, of the mid-1700s. The artifacts Huey presents to readers include handprints and footprints, carvings, clothes, tools, and toys. They offer insight into what life was like for children in these different times and what children of all times have shared, such as family chores, playing with friends and siblings, and the drives to create and to explore the world around them. The text and accompanying color photographs also offer good insight into the work of archaeologists, such as excavating and preserving artifacts, radiocarbon dating, and methods of piecing together clues to reconstruct the past. Though limited in its Western-world perspective, this is an engaging, possibly revelatory look at childhoods of the past and the work of archaeologists. (photos, glossary, bibliography, further information) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

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December 15, 2016
Grades 4-8 This offering presents insights into the lives of children from five different periods in world history, striving to make anthropology and archaeology relevant for modern-day kids. Chapters are organized chronologically and by location: from prehistoric times through the 1700s, they explore what daily life might have been like, as well as some of the scientific processes that help people today understand more about the past. The cavemen of western Europe in 18,000 BCE, for example, didn't really live in caves, but they did create paintings on cave walls; children likely playfully explored them as well, as residual footprints and radiocarbon dating have shown. Fort Mose in 1700s Florida, meanwhile, was a safe haven for escaped enslaved people. Basic science blends well with the book's casual tone; the clean, blocky layout is bolstered by a wide variety of photographs, primarily of artifacts from the different periods, and secondary sources are appended. An intriguing, empathetic introduction to life in the past.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2017
This book focuses specifically on the archaeological record related to children, zeroing in on unearthed evidence from five different sites that show the types of activities children participated in across many millennia (from 18,000 BCE to 1700s colonial Florida). Abundant artifact photographs and sidebars supplement the insightful text, which easily switches from narrative to scientific and explanatory. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)