Review by Booklist Review
Gr. 5-7. It's hard to find an untouched topic in children's nonfiction, but this comes close. The library at Alexandria was the most famous in the ancient world, a center of learning, a place where much original research in astronomy, anatomy, mathematics, and science was done. Trumble begins with Alexander, who wanted to build a great city in Egypt, but died before it was finished. It was one of his successors who built the library and stocked it with a vast collection of books, some obtained through nefarious means. Succeeding chapters describe the research done at the site, the most interesting, perhaps, being the work of Herophilus, who became an expert in human anatomy by practicing vivisection in order to learn more. Some of the attractively illustrated, full-page color paintings are full of activity; others are more stilted, simply showing people in discussion. In either case, however, the art has a younger feel than the strong, interesting text. A useful support for curriculum. --Ilene Cooper Copyright 2003 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-9-In this well-organized and thorough resource, Trumble delves into the people, legends, and politics surrounding the creation and ruin of the largest library in the ancient world. The chapter on collecting books details its methods of acquisition, which ranged from payment to thievery. A section on Alexandria's competitor, Pergamum, located in Asia Minor, provides an opportunity to describe and contrast the use of parchment and papyrus. Much attention is paid to the scholars who utilized the library and their achievements. For example, Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth. Herophilus practiced dissection and probably vivisection, adding much to contemporary understanding of the function of human organs and systems. Back matter includes maps, the Ptolemy family tree, and a description of sites in ancient Alexandria. The full-color, single-page illustrations, rendered in watercolor and gouache, are uneven. Marshall is more successful at depicting the flow of fabric, architectural ornamentation, and inanimate objects than in capturing the proportions and physicality of the human body. The modern-day Bibliotheca Alexandrina, an institution inspired by its ancient predecessor, is given only a brief mention. These flaws notwithstanding, this book is a unique and timely celebration of the age-old passion for and preservation of ideas.-Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This book relates how Ptolemy I Soter and his adviser Demetrius built the Library of Alexandria to aid the city's many scholars. Accurate information, though not tightly focused, is dispensed adequately and illustrated in watercolor and gouache. Maps and a genealogical chart are appended. Reading list. Bib., glos., ind. From HORN BOOK Spring 2004, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A stirring account of the rise and fall of the ancient world's largest library, said to contain half-a-million items at its height. Founded, like most major libraries, by ruthless autocrats--including one member of the Ptolemy family who ordered all incoming ships searched for books, and permanently "borrowed" manuscripts from the Athenian government archives--it quickly became a renowned center for scholarship. Trumble profiles several still-famous scientists who lived or studied there, from Aristarchus and Ptolemy to Euclid and Archimedes; she also scans the whole history of the city and its famous lighthouse, then closes with maps, a family tree, a quick city tour, and a note on the recently opened Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Though she never mentions Hypatia or any other woman (aside from Cleopatra) associated with the library, and one of Marshall's stiff, bland tableaus shows Alexander the Great stabbing a Persian with the wrong end of a spear, this tribute performs a worthy task in bringing a fabled institution of learning up from the footnotes, while showing young readers that libraries have a surprisingly colorful history. (index, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 11-13) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
