Locks, Crocs, and Skeeters - Hardcover

Parker, Nancy Winslow

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688122418 ISBN 13: 9780688122416

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 1996

Synopsis

Illustrations, maps, diagrams, concise biographies, and many interesting facts are used to tell the story of the building of the Panama Canal, as well as to give insight into the struggles and sacrifices that were made by those who played their part in its construction.

About this title

Reviews

Grade 3-6?A fascinating mixture of history and biography. Parker begins by illustrating James Stanley Gilbert's poem "Beyond the Chagres," which vividly portrays the horrific dangers of the jungle. However, the watercolor, pen, and colored-pencil illustrations lighten the tone somewhat. In the pages that follow, the author presents the history of the region, beginning with the earliest explorers over 400 years ago and continuing through the completion of the canal to its uses and status today. She also offers brief biographies of the significant people involved in the venture. The importance of the canal and its costs in human, monetary, and ecological terms are objectively presented. The wonderfully clear and detailed maps and drawings are extraordinarily helpful in supporting the clearly written, informative text, while Parker's portraits of the people provide the touch of humor that is characteristic of much of her nonfiction. (The snake slithering above Teddy Roosevelt's head is a perfect example.) An exceptional work that deserves a place in every collection, and that will serve nicely as an introduction to Judith St. George's The Panama Canal (Putnam, 1989).?Linda Greengrass, Bank Street College Library, New York City
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Subtitled ``The Story of the Panama Canal,'' this is a lively panorama of canal history, from pig-farmer-turned-explorer, Balboa, who discovered the Isthmus of Panama, to ambitious American President Theodore Roosevelt who seized the Isthmus and ``left Congress . . . to debate me.'' The decade-long American canal- building effort took engineering genius, an army of mosquito fighters, millions of dollars, and a devastating loss of lives to create ``the eighth wonder of the world.'' In a witty account that makes full use of entertaining detail, Parker (Working Frog, 1992, etc.) blends mesmerizing profiles, amiable illustrations (including wryly illustrated cautionary verse by a poet who succumbed to ``malaria's poisonous breath''), plus maps and diagrams of everything from scorpions and mosquitos to the canal itself. (index) (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-10) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 3^-5. This short but fully illustrated book leads from poetry into the history of the Panama Canal. James Gilbert's poem "Beyond the Chagres" sets the stage with its depiction of the dangers (malaria, alligator, spider, scorpion, boa constrictor, cougar) awaiting visitors lured to Panama by legends of gold. The rest of the book consists of full-page and double-page spreads focusing on topics such as the history of the Isthmus of Panama; individual explorers, engineers, and political leaders; the mosquitoes carrying malaria and yellow fever; and the costs (human and economic) of building the canal, its workings, and its present and future. Every page includes an attractive map or charming illustration in black ink, watercolors, and colored pencil. Unusual and effective. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688122418
• ISBN 13: 9780688122416
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32