This study of Native American societies is adapted for younger readers from Charles C. Mann’s best-selling 1491. Turning conventional wisdom on its head, the book argues that the people of North and South America lived in enormous cities, raised pyramids hundreds of years before the Egyptians did, engineered corn, and farmed the rain forests.
With the intriguing idea of exploring what lies below the surface of the Earth as its broad theme, this fascinating book cleverly dices up the subject into small, more manageable pieces ready to be devoured by young readers, particularly boys. The basics are covered in detail, such as the physical properties of the Earth’s crust (including its unusual features such as volcanoes and caves), as well as animals with underground habitats.
Unaware of its eons-old history, a boy finds a rock and takes it home to a shelf beside his sea glass and starfish.
It all started with water. But how did one river make such a deep canyon? Read on and find out.