About This Book
Reach for this book when your child starts asking big questions about the people who lived on this land long before us or when they show a budding interest in archaeology and mystery. It is a perfect choice for the young explorer who is fascinated by hidden places and how ancient people solved everyday problems like building homes and finding water in the desert. This introductory nonfiction text explores the lives of the Ancestral Puebloans, formerly referred to as the Anasazi, focusing on their remarkable cliff dwellings and eventual migration. It celebrates themes of human ingenuity and cultural endurance. At just 16 pages, it is an approachable, low-pressure way to build vocabulary and historical empathy, making it ideal for second to fourth graders who are transitionining into independent reading.
What Parents Should Know
Sensitive Topics
The book handles the disappearance of the civilization with a secular, objective lens. It presents the migration as a mystery rather than a tragedy, focusing on environmental factors like drought.
Ideal Reader
A 7 to 9-year-old who loves looking at maps or building complex structures with blocks, and who is beginning to realize that the world has a deep history reaching back long before their own life.
