With its modern-day tourist-guide tone, this compendium focusing on the 1800s American West is amusing and informative. Small cartoon figures of pioneer women, miners, and Native American women--all wearing sunglasses--accompany short, sometimes humorous trivia, but the paintings and photographs of the time are more useful sources of information. Pronunciation guide, reading list, timeline, websites. Bib., glos., ind.

Reviewed with Markel's Your Travel Guide to Ancient Rome. Gr. 4-6. Markel takes on the role of armchair guide, dispatching kids on self-directed tours of the past, using a mix of historical snippets and jaunty observations on typical dress, diet, hazards, and accepted behavior. Cribbing rubrics from modern travel guides, she discusses Money Matters, Where to Stay, How to Stay Safe and Healthy, and more. Despite the light tone, she is frank about such issues as race relations and slavery in both cultures. Each volume includes lively side comments, a recipe (Brain and Bacon Stew in Ancient Rome ), biographical notes on a handful of prominent individuals, and a generous list of further resources. America's Old West is illustrated on nearly every page with a telling, sometimes hilarious, old photo, painting, or print; in Ancient Rome , a mix of modern color photos, reconstructed scenes, and close-ups of artifacts impart a clear sense of public and private life. Though these entries in the Passport to History series are neither detailed nor systematic enough to be sole sources of report information, they are sufficiently rich in facts and images to be popular choices for both assignment-driven reading and private inquiry.

Gr 4-8-An intriguing way to pique kids' interest in American history. This book reads like any travel guide: where to visit, what to wear, what to eat, where to stay, local customs, where to buy souvenirs, etc., but the contents tell about life in America west of the Mississippi roughly between 1800 and 1900. Thus, the section "Which Cities to Visit" provides snapshots of Salt Lake City, San Antonio, and San Francisco, among others, explaining their importance in the history of the West, who settled there, etc. "Money Matters" discusses the different kinds of coins used as well as bartering; other sorts of currency such as hides or shells; and the salaries of farm workers, soldiers, and cowboys. A sidebar gives the prices for letter delivery via the Pony Express, a pound of cheese, and a pair of moccasins. The writing is lively; in discussing a sea voyage around Cape Horn to get to the gold fields, Markel writes, "Most passengers get seasick. Don't slip on the vomit. It's everywhere." Sidebars such as "Hot Hints," "Tech Talk," and "Back to the Future" provide more interesting facts. Period photos and quotations add to the picture of life in the West. This book is attractive and fascinating, with information that kids won't find elsewhere.-Sally Bates Goodroe, formerly at Harris County Public Library, Houston, TX Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.