Editorials
School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up
These works, by content experts dedicated to promoting the understanding of Chinese history and culture, are comprehensive and enlightening. Strapp leaps from innovation to innovation, covering silk, paper, navigation, money, clocks, medicine, and mapmaking. Whitfield covers religion and philosophy and how they have been passed down using various precursors to books and printing. The few maps in each book do not show political borders and lack a color key. In addition, pronunciation assistance is inconsistently supplied. Worst of all, the text is set in a small typeface with tiny margins, making the books appear somewhat intimidating, despite the fine and frequent color photographs and reproductions. Readers will be rewarded, however, with clear, accessible writing, peppered liberally with entertaining stories from history. The authors' enthusiasm is evident, especially in the numerous sidebars and profiles of important figures. If your teens study China, these books are too valuable to pass up, despite their minor flaws.-Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD