Talking Walls

I love it when an author picks an off the wall (pardon the pun) object and turns it into a fascinating and educational book. For a case in point, I'd recommend Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World and Spice: The History of a Temptation.

Walls are the subject in Talking Walls. Margy Burns Knight introduces children to over a dozen walls of historical interest. Each spread is illustrated with a full page depiction of a wall with a child or children incorporated, along with a couple of paragraphs of information. Some of the author’s choices are predictable, like the Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Most people would be hard pressed to name her other selections. They include, Mahabalipuram, the Zimbabwe conical towers and the Canadian Museum of Civilization. What an interesting assortment for a child-sized introduction to culture, geography, and history.

There are even more walls in the author’s follow up book, Talking Walls: The Stories Continue.

Ages 9-12
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Activity: Can you match the wall with it's correct geographic location? Check your answers here.