"Rise and Fall" is about empires that shaped the world from the Minoan civilization to Kingdom of Ayatthva. The book spans from 2200 BC to 1767 AD. Multipage spreads about the civilization explain their history, society, art, religion, and decline. Full of illustrations with lots of details. For grades 6th - 8th

Rise and Fall is my favorite kind of nonfiction book, not overstuffed with narrative, and full of bright colors. The cartoon illustrations are a standout, both silly and fun, but also clearly demonstrating ideas from the text. Each empire is given a few pages from rise to fall, including basic information and simple explanations for their ultimate demise. Of course a history book on this educational level will need to simplify a number of things, but the information is all correct, and I think kids will enjoy the quick stories, and sometimes bloody events.

This book is a great nonfiction informative text for curious elementary school readers. It offers a lot visually to explore. The empires covered include places from around the world, ordered chronologically from when they began and chosen for their influence on the society. Empires in Europe, Africa, Asia and North America are included. Details about how they came to be, their rulers, their art, architecture, religion, and society are included. There were a few I was not previously familiar with, so it was nice to learn something new. There are some depictions and descriptions of brutality, including human sacrifice, war, colonization, and slavery. The images are not overly graphic and they are mentioned as delicately as possible considering the reality they depict.

I think inquisitive young readers will enjoy learning these facts and exploring the photos. The page layout doesn't lend itself to an easy read aloud and it was at times hard to read to myself. Some of the images felt repetitive despite the differences in the cultures represented.

The illustrations were so detailed, you could just stare at the page and find all the little things happening. I liked that the author used the same criteria for each civilization. Very interesting!

Overview of Empires that shaped the world

This really fulfills its promise to cover the rise to the fall of each covered group. I appreciate that it centered around empires that shaped the world. It really drives home the domino effect that can be made to benefit or be a downfall for many beyond themselves. It also includes a great glossary for a convenient reference point

It opened my eyes up to civilizations I haven’t even heard of. Plenty of awareness to be had all around.

The illustrations were colorful, set the scene of each specific civilization without being overly graphic for the time period. It is such a visually appealing book.

This book would be a wonderful gift for the little history lover in your life or a history centered career person with a child/children. I could also see this incorporated into different Social Studies units in classrooms.

I received a copy of this book from Peter Allen. I am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions are my own.

Such a wonderful introduction to 9 different kingdoms from around the world! I hadn't even heard of some of these, but I really enjoyed learning about them. There wasn't space for a lot of detail in such a short book, but there was information about history, religion, architecture, and other interesting aspects of their lives.
My favorite thing was the pictures. They were on a 2-page spread and there were separate action sets all the way around. What makes the pictures so great is that they're full of action, and I imagined every set telling a story.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Informative, bright, and engaging! Rise and Fall is a fascinating look at the many empires who have come to and fallen from power over the many centuries. The blend of historical information and fun accompanying art really sets the scene for a child's imagination; I can absolutely imagine a kid poring over this for hours.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

I am reviewing a digital ARC a received via Netgalley. (I am reviewing many a picture book on Netgalley to get my feedback percentage up because someone on reddit said that the people who reviewing requests actually care about that! 🤷‍♂️)

This is, on the whole, a very nicely designed and illustrated middle grade nonfiction title which presents an overview of a variety of ancient cultures, their unique ways of life and features, and how each declined over time.

Overall it has the feel of a DK Eyewitness book, with short chunks of texts on different subtopics scattered around each spread. However, I personally felt like the illustrations were so detailed that they could have used more text chunks, or even just very brief labels on different objects and features in the illustration. Without more of these, it kind of feels like there are a few scarrtered around the pages but not enough reason to really pore over and appreciate the illustrations.

I did enjoy the mix of cultures represented, a mix of well-known (from a "I learned about this briefly in a history class in the US" perspective) to more geographically broad and diverse.

Overall if one was seeking out a middle-grade appropriate book which features a better variety of ancient cultures than most, I would not want my gripes to deter them from this one.