A Child's Geography of the World

by V.M. Hillyer, Mary Sherwood Wright Jones

书名:希利尔讲给孩子的世界史
简介:美国乃至全世界生动的历史教材，是卡尔沃特教育体系的典范之作。
作者:(美)希利尔
出版社:哈尔滨出版社
出版时间:2013年01月
装订方式:平装-胶订
分类:童书|科普/百科|历史读物图书|童书|11-14岁|科普百科

Genres: Geography, History, Nonfiction, Childrens, World History, School

472 pages

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Virgil Mores Hillyer

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Hillyer's engaging writing style in this book and the illustrations are mostly charming. He obviously traveled extensively and loved to tell about it. This book was originally written in 1929, and the edition I read was the 1951 revised edition. Unfortunately, it is a product of its time -- meaning that it has what I would consider both oblique and overt racist comments, particularly toward the end when he covers Africa and Oceania. I ended up skipping those chapters in my reading with my child.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite geography book ever. Mr. Hillyer wrote in an engaging, fun vernacular that children can easily understand. I learned something new in every single chapter and the tone of the book truly put me in a good mood, so much so that I think may have gotten more out of it than my kids (this was a read aloud) but I know they learned a lot, too, as the content found its way to our dinner table many evenings.
It's been criticized for being dated, etc.. well, all geography books that aren't recently published are dated, but this is a good tool to view the world from almost one hundred years ago and all the history to that point does not change. A couple of chapters toward the end are a bit racist.. we took those with a grain of salt and saw it as a product of its times.
If mail reached heaven I would write him a thank you note for the edification and fun found along the way.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hillyer's geography is a bit outdated for today, OK maybe a lot outdated for today. My children were amused when we read that "one day man might go to the moon." However, he is a very clever writer and much of the general information is still worthwhile today. Some things haven't changed in all these years, like the Rhine river and the Swiss Alps. Hillyer is able to make the world more understandable to the grade school child. We simply read a chapter and talk about it. We look at a large world map when he tells of various places. Reading, then seeing the places on a map and then discussing them helps bring the world into focus for children.

[Rick Bavera · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am actually kind of appalled at this book, aimed at children.

Granted, it was first published in 1929, and I read the 1951 updated edition. So there would be lots that would have changed as far as political geography between then and now.

When the author focused on physical geography, he didn't do too bad.

But it is amazing how much misinformation is there--such as saying South Africa is nothing but jungle.

The rampant cultural superiority evident in the book is pitiful at best. Things like white superiority just oozes from the book's pages. Non-white cultures are often dismissed as lazy, criminal, filled with cannibals. They "have brains" if they have learned how to be civilized and act like white people.

All in all, NOT a book I would recommend for anyone to read or own.

[Ardyth]

See review of The Orient, Australia, and the South Sea Islands for why decided against Hillyer.

[Diba Roshan · Rating 5 out of 5]

خیلی کتاب جذاب و کاملیه و اطلاعات زیادی درباره جغرافیا داره

[Catie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun, if outdated, adventure. Best read aloud and not handed to the children. Much editing on the fly is necessary to edit out language that is not acceptable in our day and age.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: When I was a boy, my nurse used to take me to the railroad station to see the trains.

Premise/plot: A Child's Geography of the World was first published in 1929. The edition I found was revised and published in 1951. The tone is casual conversation. There are a few black and white illustrations throughout the book. The book is full of information, but what kind?

The truth is some information stays the same no matter the decade. (For example the location of the The Great Lakes, the Empire State Building, the Leaning Tower of Pisa). But plenty of things have changed and changed dramatically! Nations have passed away, governments have been toppled, revolutions have taken place. Also the United States has more than 48 states! Mount Everest has been climbed. Man has gone to the moon and back.

The last war mentioned is world war 2. Communists are mentioned, or perhaps I should say warned against!

Race is definitely an issue if you're reading this with children. (God created black men at night and many black people in Africa eat each other. The narrator makes an offhandedly comment that you will likely never see a real live Indian because there are few left. The narrator later makes an aside that the U.S. does it's best to keep out the Chinese.) I would say adults can throw away the bad and keep the good and have the discernment needed to tell the difference between the two. I would not recommend young children read this on their own for several reasons. One being that unless this text has been updated and revised recently, you'd have more misinformation than correct information.

My thoughts: I find vintage books entertaining. I do. Rare, long out-of-print books call to me. It's a way to capture a glimpse of the past, for better or worse. Not a historical writer's idea of the past. Good Morning, Miss Dove is one of my favorite, favorite books--and movies. This book would have been published at exactly the right time for Miss Dove to use!

The information is dated, true, I won't lie, but it is also a strong narrative. If there weren't problematic sections, I could easily call it charming.

[王佳欢 Jiahuan Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

尽管这是一本写给儿童的世界历史，我作为成人，读完之后还是受益匪浅。很多书中所讲的历史，在此之前都还是闻所未闻的。我喜欢历史，可能最初是因为历史中有各种各样的故事。之后又发现历史中其实包含人类万象，文化、社会、生活和人类活动中各种各样的东西。想想那些一开始书写历史的人之所以写历史，不就是为了告诉后人什么东西。这些东西，不就是前面我们所犯的错误要修正，前面我们的光荣要延续，所为的目的就是为了我们整个人类更加茁壮的成长。人的科技、社会形势、语言和文化会变，但是人性变的少之又少，透过历史的迷雾，我们更能看清自己，不是吗？

记得谁说过，我们要知道我们从哪里来，方能知道我们到哪里去？历史的作用不正在于此吗？

[Sarah]

I have an old, clothbound copy of this book with an inscription to my grandmother, dated Christmas Day 1930. I read the introduction and first chapter and almost stayed up all night reading the rest ... I'm excited to tackle it.

[王佳欢 Jiahuan Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

又读完了这本关于地理的书，虽说是主要讲给小孩子们的书，总之受益匪浅啊。很多篇幅不长，所以不会让人有疲惫的感觉。因为不长的篇幅，所以可以马上跳到另一个话题上，这样可以让总是好奇新鲜感的特别强的孩子们，保持浓厚的兴趣。这真是一本写给孩子们的书籍啊！
只是稍稍感觉不好的地方是，它没有讲关于中国的地方，让我们中国读者有些失望。希望我们中国也有这种类型的书籍就好了。还有一本艺术要看，我今天或者明天什么时候来看看吧。

[Zhanqiang Zhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am reading for my kid Thomas right now. I started it yesterday evening and was attracted by its writing. It fits kids perfectly and made my son laugh and engage in it all the time.

[Sarah Sammis]

Purchased based on a loving review in Seeing in the Dark