By: Laurie Krebs Publisher: Barefoot Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Barefoot Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 40 Publication Date: September 01, 2007 Reading Level: Ages 4-8
Product Description: Explore the world of stunning silk, delicious spices and exotic trade locations in this rhyming tale about a Chinese family s journey along the Silk Road, the trade route that runs thousands of miles through Asia.
a fun introduction to the Silk Road In "We're Riding on a Caravan", readers are introduced to the Silk Road, an important trading route that connected Asia and Europe centuries ago. It tells the readers about the caravan journey of a family as they make this yearlong trip over the Chinese leg of the trip. We see how they began in Xi'an, stopped in the cities in Lanzhou and Dunhuang, rested in Hami, traded in Turpan, and finally arrived in Kashgar where they sell their remaining silk at the market before setting out on the return journey home. The trip is then presented on an illustrated map in the endnotes, giving readers a better idea of the distances between the stops on the journey.
In addition to the map, the traditional story of how silk was discovered is recounted in the endnotes. It also devotes a couple pages to the history of the Silk Road, which should be useful to readers who might not have been introduced to the subject in school yet. For readers who are uncertain about pronunciation of the Chinese names, the endnotes offer a pronunciation guide as well as a paragraph or so of information about each location. While the endnotes are of the same high quality as in the other books, there seems to be fewer pages of them than in other books published by Barefoot Books I have read.
This book is another well written one by Laurie Krebs. Each spread of pages includes a pair of rhyming couplets, followed by the repeating refrain "We're riding on a caravan, a bumpy, humpy caravan. We're riding on a caravan to places far away." The illustrations are also quite nice, bright and colorful, with some whimsical touches such as curls in the clouds. Overall, this is an excellent book on the topic for young readers, demonstrating the wide scope of the trading route and its international impact, especially in the market of Kashgar. However, one thing to keep in mind is that "We're Riding on a Caravan" might be a little too advanced for some readers. While other books by this author deal with concepts such as counting and days of the week ("We're Going on Safari", "We're Sailing to Galapagos"), this one has more text and a slightly more complicated plot as the family travels along the Silk Road. If kids have enjoyed Laurie Krebs books about foreign locations ("Off We Go To Mexico", "We're Sailing Down the Nile") they will probably have little trouble graduating up to "We're Riding on a Caravan."
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
