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Wonders of the World
The Panama Canal: The Story of how a jungle was conquered and the world made smaller
It seemed so simple. Panama was less than fifty miles wide. How difficult could it be to build a canal across it? Tragically difficult. Panama was a disease-ridden death trap. Its mountainous rain forest was a challenge to the most brilliant engineers. Its oppressive heat exhausted the hardiest workers. Somehow the Panama Canal was built. Engineers found ways to cut through the rain forest. Medical visionaries conquered the diseases. Workers endured the jungle. Yet side by side with genius and selfless heroism were broken treaties, the domination of a small nation by a large one, and tens of thousands of black West Indian workers forced to live in second-rate, segregated conditions. This, too, is the story of the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal captures the spirit of an age when no task was thought impossible, and no price too high to pay. Wonders of the World series The winner of numerous awards, this series is renowned for Elizabeth Mann's ability to convey adventure and excitement while revealing technical information in engaging and easily understood language. The illustrations are lavishly realistic and accurate in detail but do not ignore the human element. Outstanding in the genre, these books are sure to bring even the most indifferent young reader into the worlds of history, geography, and architecture. "One of the ten best non-fiction series for young readers."
- Booklist
- Booklist
- GenresNonfictionChildrens
48 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1998
46 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 25, 2025
Written before control of the Panama Canal was handed over to Panama in 1999, so a piece of the story is missing. Some better illustration may have been possible. Definitely geared more towards an 8-year-old, but not a bad introduction to the topic for my 6-year-old.
June 24, 2022
Fascinating details on the building of the Panama Canal that we read in our homeschool Dialectic history studies.
March 27, 2014
I took this from our library because I wanted to read some background of the canal and the story of its building before I began reading Margarita Engle’s verse novel out this week, Silver People.
The book gives a broad overview of the history and challenges of the canal. Each part summarized is well done, but really the summaries only hint at the details behind the stories. For example, the evasive tactics taken by Theodore Roosevelt means really that he broke laws to get what he wanted, and while the book says that, it concludes that complaints faded, and he charged ahead to get the canal done. There must be many things written about his tactics, and I infer that he was never a hero to Panamanians.
Also, toward the end of the book, there are some few pages about the hardship of all the workers on the canal, except the Americans. Americans were housed in fine homes, their children went to excellent schools, etc. The “others” lived and worked in horrid, unsanitary conditions, and were paid much less than white workers.
This is a taste of the incredible accomplishment of the canal, with a positive conclusion of the benefits to commercial shipping throughout its use. And the book was published just before the country of Panama again became free, no long having ties to the U.S.
I imagine all of these books offer good overviews of the building of amazing structures all over the world, like this canal, The Great Wall, the Brooklyn Bridge, etc. They are beginnings of research, and for younger researchers provide a bridge to the next, deeper step.
The book gives a broad overview of the history and challenges of the canal. Each part summarized is well done, but really the summaries only hint at the details behind the stories. For example, the evasive tactics taken by Theodore Roosevelt means really that he broke laws to get what he wanted, and while the book says that, it concludes that complaints faded, and he charged ahead to get the canal done. There must be many things written about his tactics, and I infer that he was never a hero to Panamanians.
Also, toward the end of the book, there are some few pages about the hardship of all the workers on the canal, except the Americans. Americans were housed in fine homes, their children went to excellent schools, etc. The “others” lived and worked in horrid, unsanitary conditions, and were paid much less than white workers.
This is a taste of the incredible accomplishment of the canal, with a positive conclusion of the benefits to commercial shipping throughout its use. And the book was published just before the country of Panama again became free, no long having ties to the U.S.
I imagine all of these books offer good overviews of the building of amazing structures all over the world, like this canal, The Great Wall, the Brooklyn Bridge, etc. They are beginnings of research, and for younger researchers provide a bridge to the next, deeper step.
March 21, 2016
A concise narrative captures the tremendous challenges and impressive accomplishment of the construction of the Panama canal. The French failure, role of President Teddy Roosevelt, diplomatic relations between Panama and the USA (with a decided advocacy for the Panamanians), threat of disease, danger of work, innovative engineering, racism in both job and housing assignments, and the significance to all nations of the world in the accomplishment, are all discussed.
Lush illustrations give students a glimpse into the wild jungle of Panama, and photographs later in the book display living conditions by class. Fold out illustrations and a map at the end give students an overview of the canal path and how it works. A better illustration of the elevation challenges would have been helpful as my students had a lot of questions about that.
Also, published in 1998, the concluding information about the relationship between the USA and Panama, as well as the then anticipated handover of the canal to Panama (which happened in December 31, 1999) give the book a dated feel. My students were very interested to know what has happened between the USA and Panama since then, especially given the previous tone of the book.
Lush illustrations give students a glimpse into the wild jungle of Panama, and photographs later in the book display living conditions by class. Fold out illustrations and a map at the end give students an overview of the canal path and how it works. A better illustration of the elevation challenges would have been helpful as my students had a lot of questions about that.
Also, published in 1998, the concluding information about the relationship between the USA and Panama, as well as the then anticipated handover of the canal to Panama (which happened in December 31, 1999) give the book a dated feel. My students were very interested to know what has happened between the USA and Panama since then, especially given the previous tone of the book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews