How the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Were Built

Gr 4-6–Readers who enjoy browsable nonfiction will likely find this book appealing. A brief introduction explains why there are seven wonders, suggests that there is still much we don’t know about them, and compares the size of each to the Eiffel Tower. The book then focuses on each site in turn: the Pyramids of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and Pharos of Alexandria. For each, there are brief blocks of text that discuss major topics for the structure. For example, when discussing the Pyramids of Giza, there are paragraphs entitled “Land of the Nile,” “The Pharoah’s Architect, “Pyramid Cross-Section, and “Materials.” There are also many illustrations, including maps and renderings of the wonder while artisans were working on it and after they completed it. While there is no connected narrative of the building of each place and no back matter with additional material, readers will learn some interesting facts and statistics.