You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China!: Defenses You'd Rather Not Build

You Wouldn't Want to Be ...

by Jacqueline Morley, David Salariya, David Antram (Illustrator)

Hilarious illustrations, captions, and sidebars show the toil and suffering involved in building the Great Wall of China in the third century BC, removing any glamour thought to be experienced by the slaves who built it. Simultaneous.

Genres: History, Childrens, Nonfiction, China, Geography, Picture Books, Historical

32 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2002

About the author

Jacqueline Morley studied English at Oxford University and has taught English and History. She is the author of numerous books, including award-winning historical nonfiction titles for children. Her books have won several TES Senior Information book awards.

Reviews

[Marcy]

This is great for sixth grade! It's based upon the beliefs and life of the first emperor and the people of China. It tells about life in China before the wall, during and after the wall was built. There are handy hints and sequences of cartoony pictures to show the unfairness of the times, yet the paragraphs on each page are as true as an encyclopedia.

A Hard Life Handy Hint: If you're desperately in debt, sell your children (daughters first as slaves)

The Burning of the Books Handy Hint: To preserve a well-loved book, learn it by heart.

There is a wonderful glossary at the end.

I would imagine this book would be VERY appealing to sixth graders.

[Amy]

Despite my niece's adoration of all things Chinese, I don't think that she adored this book. It seemed that it was more of a challenge for her to understand than some of the other books that we've read from this series--there were ideas and concepts that were difficult for her to comprehend, and the vocabulary used was often above her level. These are all fine things--I believe in challenging a child to stretch themselves, and she did a great job of asking questions in order to gain understanding. In the end, though, I just think she is maybe a bit too young to really grasp what this book was trying to teach.

[Duane]

Although this book as excellent illustrations, I feel that the book misguides the reader because it isn't entirely about the Great Wall of China. You learn about how China became to be and daily life of the Chinese people. A nice read anyways though.

[Abi]

In this book Morley tells how hard people worked on The Great Wall. Qin Shihuangdi was the first emperor of china. He wanted the wall to be built fast and he didn't care how hard people worked, and he didn't care how many people died building it. He built the wall to guard China.

[Sandy]

The title is so right! You wouldn't want to work on the Great Wall of China. The horrible lives of these poor people. Lots of information I had no idea about. I love the illustrations, they are constant throughout this series.

[Karen]

Pre-read for CC1.

[Chelsea Hoschar]

You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China! is a creative informational story about the life of workers on the Great Wall of China. People today might think this job wasn't so bad, but the truth of the hard work and roten conditions all revealed in this colorful book. Fantastically bright illustrations supplement the words that are written in different segments and to the reader as if they were actually living the story.
As a reading specialist, I would use this book with my kids because of the way it is written, with the ilustrations doing some of the story-telling. If a student is having difficulty with a certain part of the text, they can study the pictures for help figuring out what the words are saying. The educational value of this book is also high. As a reading specialist, ny job is not only to help students improve their reading skills, but also to make sure that they continue learning. Books that they will get practice learning from and also learn things from are the types of books that I will use with them. This book is one of those.
Morley, J. (2006). You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China! Franklin Watts, Scholastic Library Publishing

[Kelly Carey]

Instead of the Great Wall of China, perhaps it should called the Great Graveyard of China. Like many other "great" buildings of the ancient world, people were not given the choice to work on the Great Wall. Instead, they were forced to work until they dropped or even died.

[Michelle]

I love this series! This is the best way for me to learn history...or at least to begin learning about a particular time and place. :)

[Timothy]

I like the humor in history it gives

[Honza Horáček]

Please write content this book. Full please. Thanks

[Maimona alt]

I like this series

[Stacy]

If you are using SOTW this goes along perfectly!

[Nicole]

I like this series. The illustrations add a touch of humor to the difficult times while the descriptive writing gives enough facts for a 2nd to 5th grader

[MW]

I'm not quite sure what age this book is aimed at. The cartoonish pictures attracted my young child, but the text and images of people being sliced up, thrown into holes to be buried alive or awaiting an executioner's beheading required more explanation than I felt capable of giving. Perhaps more suited to 12 yr old+?

[Jaden]

Very cool they build the wall and are made out of the dirt.

[Zakki Majoka]

Good visuals

[Sherrie]

This is such a fascinating series! I enjoy history and this is a fun way to take in more knowledge of world history. I find this series also offers little details you wouldn’t learn elsewhere.

[Henning Klank]

Excellent

[Hanna]

Funny cartoonish but covered stuff in broken bits and pieces instead of one clumped narrative.

[Dolly]

We've read many of the books in the You Wouldn't Want To... series. I like that they tackle serious historical events and show the not-so-nice side of human behavior, but in a somewhat humorous and tongue-in-cheek way. The book puts you as the reader into the center of the story, so you can imagine what life in those times was like.

Our youngest daughter is studying ancient China and the Silk Road trading routes through China and we thought we'd read this book that explains a little more about the history of ancient China. The book explains how so many workers were gathered to create this man-made wonder and what life was like for them before, during, and after the wall was built.

We enjoyed reading this book together and will look for more of the books in this series at our local library.

[Annabelle]

Great book! They don't Suger coat it which is great for me 😁 would recommend but kinda intense for younger kids.

[The Brothers]

Asher (8yo) read.

[Andy Hickman]

“Avoid Working on the Great Wall of China: The Danger Zone” - (a.k.a) “You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China! Defenses You'd Rather Not Build.”
***
You are a poor peasant boy who works with your father to help support your family. You are living in the third century BC under the ruler Qin, the Emperor of China. The Emperor has many unfair laws. Unfortunately, you break one of those laws and are given the punishment of hard labor. You're sentenced to long days of brutal work building the Great Wall of China. This is hard work in the scorching heat of the summer and the bitter cold in the mountains. If it were up to you. You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Great Wall of China. ...more

“A Hard Life - Handy Hint: If you're desperately in debt, sell your children (daughters first) as slaves.” (p11)

“The Burning of the Books - Handy Hint: To preserve a well-loved book, learn it by heart.” (p15)

“The Emperor has decided to build a huge wall to keep them [neighbours] out. It will run the length of his kingdom from east to west... He wants it built fast and he doesn't care how many people die building it.” (p16)

“Handy Hint: Even at points far too steep for raiders to scale, you still need the Wall to keep out the demons.” (p21)

“Handy Hint: Don't dig graces for workers who die. Tip the bodies into the foundations and they will soon be buried.” (p23)
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