It's a Feudal, Feudal World: A Different Medieval History

by Simon Shapiro, Ross Kinnaird (Illustrator)

Overview

Enter a medieval world unlike any you’ve seen before. Welcome to an innovative and reader-friendly approach to medieval history, one that combines visually appealing infographics, whimsical cartoons and lively, informative text. Each spread offers a snapshot that highlights an aspect of the diversity and intercultural dynamics of the medieval world, from Europe to the Byzantine, Ottoman and Islamic empires. Readers get the inside scoop on crusaders and caliphs, Mongols and midwives, as they read about expanding trade routes, power shifts, conquests, adventure, and persecutions. From the daily life of the medieval child to Rabban bar Sauma’s extraordinary pilgrimage, the result is a colorful and varied picture of what life was like a thousand years ago. For example, did you know: • 5% of babies in English peasants’ homes died from pig bites? • what medieval workers did for a living? • you could buy a Turkish horse for 455 cartloads of dung? • the best way to stop the unstoppable knight? Shapiro’s meticulous research is brought to life by Ross Kinnaird’s historically based, humorous, illustrations. Who would imagine medieval history could be this much fun!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554515523
Publisher:	Annick Press, Limited
Publication date:	09/01/2013
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	10.70(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	860L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 11 Years

About the Author

Stephen Shapiro holds a PhD and is the author of The Siege, Ultra Hush-Hush!, Hoodwinked, and Battle Stations. He lives in Toronto.

Ross Kinnaird is an illustrator who has worked in London, Sydney, and Hong Kong. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

Editorial Reviews

I absolutely LOVED this book and will be using it in my classroom this year.

amyalvis.blogspot.ca - Amy Alvis

Filled with numerous fun little facts that will surprise even adult readers, this is a great introduction to history for children.

thebookgeek.com - Emily Mitchell

A different history in both its infographic presentation and the scope of material covered... Kinnaird's engaging cartoon style fits well with Shapiro's frequently witty presentation of what might otherwise be dry historical facts... A good introduction to the Middle Ages and a solid preliminary research tool... The infographic style is particularly accessible to those who struggle with reading.

Quill and Quire - Cori Dusmann

This very appealing graphic text is truly a different history of the Middle Ages! Each page contains a wealth of clearly presented information.

Resource Links - Carolyn Cutt

The illustrations will keep kids chuckling; the print sections are kept brief but provide students with a good starting point for projects.

Canadian Children's Book News - Sandra O'Brien

Filled with colorful illustrations, small text blurbs, and lots of charts, this book is a fantastic overview of the Middle Ages. Information is given in brief bites so children won't get bored. It covers men and women, and societies from all around the world. There are things in this book that I didn't learn until college courses. I wish I'd had this book as a kid, because I would have loved it!

goodreads.com

Shapiro has written a creative and useful book that will be an added treasure to any school library or classroom. Highly recommended.

CM Magazine - Ian Stewart

2013-10-20
A waggishly illuminating pictorial tour of the Middle Ages. Medieval history is full of good stuff--the Silk Road, the bubonic plague, Vikings--and Shapiro touches on a fair amount, concentrating on the area that became known as Europe and the Near East, with brief forays to Cathay. Kinnaird deploys infographics to give readers a sense of numbers: of Viking travels, weapons of warfare or women in the workplace. Shapiro infuses the 1,000-year period with both the foreign and the familiar. Readers may know about diseases, but the scope of the Black Death boggles the mind; medieval class structure--"The life of a young peasant was like that of an old peasant, only poorer"--finds echoes in today's inequities of wealth. He lays it out well, and Kinnaird provides crisp artwork with a comic-book look and touch of humor. The book gets below the surface on more than one occasion to give depth to such circumstances as rules governing the behavior of nonbelievers and how the plague was spread by Mongols catapulting their dead soldiers--along with their attendant fleas--into cities under siege. A rangy but concise slice of history, it's likely to encourage readers to take the next step in learning about medieval times. (Nonfiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews