In this post, we will look at another book that I have used as a K-12 teacher The Great Wall Of China (Aladdin Picture Books) by Leonard Everett Fisher (pp 31).

The Summary

The title clearly lets you know what the book is about. It focuses on Ch’in Shih Huang Ti and his quest to build a wall that would protect his empire from the Mongols. According to the text, Ch’in Shih Huang Ti was the first supreme emperor of China as he conquered several other small kingdoms to make what we now know as China.

The book depicts how the Mongols were coming and burning down border villages in China and how the Emperor plans and builds the wall. Men were dragged from their families to go and work on the wall. The Emperor even sent his oldest son and crown prince to help build the wall.

The project was a combination of building a new wall while also restoring walls that were in disrepair. Workers who complained or ran away were buried alive. It took a total of ten years to complete what is now called the Great Wall of China.

The Good 

My favorite aspect of the book is the iconic black and white drawings depicting ancient China. The stern look of the Emperor and the soldiers remains of the toughness of characters old western movies. Nobody smiles in the book until the last page when the Emperor is rejoicing over the completion of the Wall.

THe book doesn’t include a lot of text. Rather, the pictures do the majority of the storying telling. The pictures are large enough that you can use this book for a whole-class reading experience where the kids sit around you as you read the text and show them the pictures.

THe author also did an excellent job of simplifying the complexity of the building of the Great Wall into a few pages for young children. For example, there is much more to the Emperor’s son being sent to help build the Great Wall. However, the author reduces this complex problem down to the accusation that the Emperor thought his son was a “whiner.”

The Bad

I can’t say there is bad in this text as it depends on what your purpose is for buying the book. There is not a lot of text in the book as it is primarily picture-based. If you want your students to read on their own there is not a lot to read. For those of us who have a background in Chinese history, the text may be oversimplified.

The Recommendation

I would give this book 4.5/5 stars. Whether for your library or for sharing with your entire class this book will provide a great learning experience about a part of history that is normally not studied as much as it should be.