What do you think?
Rate this book
The Story of People: A first book about humankind
Get read to through time as the incredible story of human beings unfolds before our very eyes...
When did the first humans live?
How did humans spread all over the world?
How has science and technology changed the way we live?
And what will happen to humans in the future?
The team behind The Story of Space and The Story of Life present a first book about the human world for very young children, looking at how humans evolved and the history of humanity up to the present day.
When did the first humans live?
How did humans spread all over the world?
How has science and technology changed the way we live?
And what will happen to humans in the future?
The team behind The Story of Space and The Story of Life present a first book about the human world for very young children, looking at how humans evolved and the history of humanity up to the present day.
40 pages, Hardcover
Published March 5, 2019
About the author
Catherine Barr
39 books18 followersInsta: catherinebarrbooks
I was inspired to write my first book The Story of Life by my two girls, for whom I searched in vain for the story (rather than a text book) of evolution – in 2015. Previous to unexpectedly becoming a children's author, I worked for Greenpeace International as a campaigner on wildlife issues for many years, before becoming an Editor at the Natural History Museum in London, where I wrote summer exhibitions on Myths, Monsters and Dinosaurs. I now write narrative nonfiction that I hope will spark questions, interest and action.
I am a proud Patron of Reading for a local school and visit schools and festivals with workshops inspired by my books. I love what I do and hope my books inspire curious and challenging conversations, as well as wonder for the natural world.
I was inspired to write my first book The Story of Life by my two girls, for whom I searched in vain for the story (rather than a text book) of evolution – in 2015. Previous to unexpectedly becoming a children's author, I worked for Greenpeace International as a campaigner on wildlife issues for many years, before becoming an Editor at the Natural History Museum in London, where I wrote summer exhibitions on Myths, Monsters and Dinosaurs. I now write narrative nonfiction that I hope will spark questions, interest and action.
I am a proud Patron of Reading for a local school and visit schools and festivals with workshops inspired by my books. I love what I do and hope my books inspire curious and challenging conversations, as well as wonder for the natural world.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 8, 2019
Fans of 'Sapiens: a brief history of Humankind' by Yuval Noah Harari will appreciate the difficulty of putting two million years of human history into a 40 page book. The Story of People is a sequel to similarly-designed The Story of Life and The Story of Space. This well-written and beautifully-lllustrated book provides an incredibly conscise introduction to world history. The topics range from pre-history and the spread of the first humans all over the world to recent environmental problems which may have disastrous consequences for our future. The book helps young readers see the big picture, how most important developments (Agricultural and Industrial Revolution, geographic and scientific discoveries, urbanisation) helped to shape our world. It does not shy away from difficult topics such as slavery and religion, which are often omitted from similar texts.
I loved its colourful artwork- it reminded me of the pictures my eight year old pupils produce, with their attention to detail and prominence given to what children see as the most important part of the picture.
Thank you to Net Galley and Quarto Publishing Group/ Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
I loved its colourful artwork- it reminded me of the pictures my eight year old pupils produce, with their attention to detail and prominence given to what children see as the most important part of the picture.
Thank you to Net Galley and Quarto Publishing Group/ Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
February 21, 2019
Sweeping ~ Diagrammatic ~ Age-appropriate
tl;dr: The history of humanity in pictures
This book does an admirable job of offering the broad swath of human history for young readers. The illustrations are done in a naive style, perhaps meant to add playfulness or decrease the seriousness of the topic. The text is particulary good, with broad concepts being simplified appropriately. This book doesn't shy away from the problems humans have caused, like slavery. I was impressed by the author's ability to distill enormous concept is an age-appropriate book. School libraries should certainly acquire this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Seema Rao Write : Instagram| Blog| Twitter|
tl;dr: The history of humanity in pictures
This book does an admirable job of offering the broad swath of human history for young readers. The illustrations are done in a naive style, perhaps meant to add playfulness or decrease the seriousness of the topic. The text is particulary good, with broad concepts being simplified appropriately. This book doesn't shy away from the problems humans have caused, like slavery. I was impressed by the author's ability to distill enormous concept is an age-appropriate book. School libraries should certainly acquire this book.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Seema Rao Write : Instagram| Blog| Twitter|
February 26, 2019
Nope... I didn't like the art but not at all and I also had a problem with the book trying to summarize history of mankind in such a «minimalistic way». I know this is for kid, I get that, but I just don,t agree with the fact that we should make everything simple and «minimalistic» because they are for kids, it would have been better to maybe do a short collection with a book for every big period of time, because the way i's presented in this one we just over simplify everything and the event describe in it loose every interest and meaning they had and should have.
March 5, 2019
History explained for kids
My son (5 yrs) was recently interested in how humans derived from apes, and although I tried to explain to him the evolution process and that it took thousands of years, he couldn't really understand the concept. This book helped him to visualize what I was trying to explain.
And I think this is the main objective of this book. 'The Story of People' does not aim at being a scientific paper on how mankind evolved from the jungle of Africa to where we are today. It rather provides information on the milestones in this development process that can be discussed further. If you look through this book with a child, you wouldn't only read out the little sentences printed next to the very detailed illustrations, but you would (hopefully) get into a conversation with the child about the short facts that are stated here (which even include topics like slavery and pollution).
This book is a very good aid to help young readers understand certain things that might seem too complex for adults to explain in an appropriate manner.
My son (5 yrs) was recently interested in how humans derived from apes, and although I tried to explain to him the evolution process and that it took thousands of years, he couldn't really understand the concept. This book helped him to visualize what I was trying to explain.
And I think this is the main objective of this book. 'The Story of People' does not aim at being a scientific paper on how mankind evolved from the jungle of Africa to where we are today. It rather provides information on the milestones in this development process that can be discussed further. If you look through this book with a child, you wouldn't only read out the little sentences printed next to the very detailed illustrations, but you would (hopefully) get into a conversation with the child about the short facts that are stated here (which even include topics like slavery and pollution).
This book is a very good aid to help young readers understand certain things that might seem too complex for adults to explain in an appropriate manner.
March 2, 2019
The Story of People promises to deliver an ambitious goal--summarize the history of humankind on earth in a book digestible for children--and it does an amazing job parsing two million years into around forty pages.
Barr and Williams begin when dinosaurs went extinct but small mammals survived the asteroid that killed so much life on earth. From there, readers learn about hunter and gatherer societies, the formation of towns, trade, the development of government, the influence of religion, to the industrial revolution, and today’s amazing technological developments.
They don’t shy away from difficult topics such as the slave trade, war, and climate change, though their message is one of cooperation and hopefulness.
Completed in a style I particularly like, Amy Husband’s illustrations are somewhat cartoon-like, colorful, playing with perspective, and with new details every time you look at the page.
The book includes a running timeline and a helpful glossary.
For an audience of six-to-nine-year-olds, The Story of People does deliver a full, though concise history that will also certainly inspire questions and provoke discussion. A must for libraries, this is also a great book to have at home.
Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
...aka darzy... | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Barr and Williams begin when dinosaurs went extinct but small mammals survived the asteroid that killed so much life on earth. From there, readers learn about hunter and gatherer societies, the formation of towns, trade, the development of government, the influence of religion, to the industrial revolution, and today’s amazing technological developments.
They don’t shy away from difficult topics such as the slave trade, war, and climate change, though their message is one of cooperation and hopefulness.
Completed in a style I particularly like, Amy Husband’s illustrations are somewhat cartoon-like, colorful, playing with perspective, and with new details every time you look at the page.
The book includes a running timeline and a helpful glossary.
For an audience of six-to-nine-year-olds, The Story of People does deliver a full, though concise history that will also certainly inspire questions and provoke discussion. A must for libraries, this is also a great book to have at home.
Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group, Frances Lincoln Children’s Books for providing an advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
...aka darzy... | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
February 28, 2019
I absolutely loved the illustrations in this book about how homo sapiens.started out of Africa, became farmers, discovered iron. The Greek and Romans, the Crusades, slave trade to the New World, scientific discoveries, the Industrial Revolution, and robots.
Two million years of human evolution in a nutshell, a very small nutshell.
Two million years of human evolution in a nutshell, a very small nutshell.
March 6, 2019
A very good book that teaches young children about the evolution of humans. The illustrations are wonderfully done and the book explains everything in such a simple way that it is bound to be a hit with your curious young person.
March 1, 2019
I received this book, for free, in exchange for an honest review.
A nicely illustrated story regarding the history of people. It is simplified for children but also remains factual (noting things like colonialism and not whitewashing things too much).
A nicely illustrated story regarding the history of people. It is simplified for children but also remains factual (noting things like colonialism and not whitewashing things too much).
March 21, 2019
WoW................The Story of People by Catherine Barr, Steve Williams is a Book packed with so much brilliant information on:
When did the first humans live?
How did humans spread all over the world?
How has science and technology changed the way we live?
And what will happen to humans in the future? etc
It has Great illustrations throughout and so much great detail facts and information about the world then and now
I found this book a Must for schools for young school children and its a great class topic and talk time.
Highly recommended - A book thats has True facts about the world around us - Brilliant!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
When did the first humans live?
How did humans spread all over the world?
How has science and technology changed the way we live?
And what will happen to humans in the future? etc
It has Great illustrations throughout and so much great detail facts and information about the world then and now
I found this book a Must for schools for young school children and its a great class topic and talk time.
Highly recommended - A book thats has True facts about the world around us - Brilliant!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 17, 2019
As the title states, this is the history of how humans came to be and evolved into what we are today.
You can tell this is for kids when it starts with “A gigantic rock crashed into our planet” instead of “asteroid.”
I love that the handprints from the Lascaux cave are shown here. I also like that it doesn’t shy away from the history of religion, and uses BCE and CE instead of BC and AD. It also describes the Americas after the Europeans arrived as “stolen lands,” and doesn’t mince words telling the story of slavery.
It’s simple, especially the artwork, but it works. Many adults would benefit from this just as much as kids.
4.5 pushed up to 5/5
You can tell this is for kids when it starts with “A gigantic rock crashed into our planet” instead of “asteroid.”
I love that the handprints from the Lascaux cave are shown here. I also like that it doesn’t shy away from the history of religion, and uses BCE and CE instead of BC and AD. It also describes the Americas after the Europeans arrived as “stolen lands,” and doesn’t mince words telling the story of slavery.
It’s simple, especially the artwork, but it works. Many adults would benefit from this just as much as kids.
4.5 pushed up to 5/5
February 16, 2022
простовато и коротко, но для первого раза и очень-очень-очень грубого представления подойдет. а также для разговора о том, почему люди ехали в трюме, закованные в кандалы
March 18, 2019
Thank you Francis Lincoln Children's and NetGalley for this review copy. The Story of People is a good introduction to the history of man. It spans from early man through the present day. I appreciated the milestones included such as discoveries, migration, religion, industrial revolution, etc.
March 23, 2019
This book is brightly illustrated and packed full of quirky images and information. It attempts to present an overview of humankind across the world. It’s short so I’d recommend it for you children.
March 27, 2019
I am reviewing this book for Catherine Barr, Quarto Publishing and NetGalley who gave me a copy of their book for an honest review.
A great book to introduce children to the evolution of mankind. Great illustrations to go alongside the text
A great book to introduce children to the evolution of mankind. Great illustrations to go alongside the text
April 5, 2019
"The Story of People" is a wonderful intro book about human history for young children. It isn't easy to summarize million years of human evolution in 40 pages but the authors managed to squeeze in as much as they could and they retold the tales of our ancestors without being verbose. The beautiful illustrations help children to absorb the information visually making "The Story of People" an awesome read.
The book is written in timeline format covering history from 60 million years ago to present time. The authors neatly divided the information into 14 distinctive historical eras. Each era has two spreads of illustrations and summaries of important milestones that human achieved or disasters they encountered. Since this is a nonfiction book targeting young children, do expect omissions of many other essential events. Nonetheless, "The Story of People" is a good introductory book to education youngsters about human.
P.S. When children are old enough and are ready for more in-depth coverage about human history, the publisher has an advanced version on the topic called "Curiositree: Human World" (ISBN: 9781847809926) which I highly recommend as well.
The book is written in timeline format covering history from 60 million years ago to present time. The authors neatly divided the information into 14 distinctive historical eras. Each era has two spreads of illustrations and summaries of important milestones that human achieved or disasters they encountered. Since this is a nonfiction book targeting young children, do expect omissions of many other essential events. Nonetheless, "The Story of People" is a good introductory book to education youngsters about human.
P.S. When children are old enough and are ready for more in-depth coverage about human history, the publisher has an advanced version on the topic called "Curiositree: Human World" (ISBN: 9781847809926) which I highly recommend as well.
April 15, 2019
A colourful and accessible introduction to the history of human kind for a young reader. This brilliant picture book condenses thousands of years of human history into 40 short pages, with bright illustrations and child-friendly language and speech bubbles and labels to encourage children to explore the illustrations further.
I particularly liked that the end of the book made the reader consider the impact they are having on the natural world and the message that we all need to take care of the world we live in.
I particularly liked that the end of the book made the reader consider the impact they are having on the natural world and the message that we all need to take care of the world we live in.
April 15, 2019
I was sent a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
This is a super super super simplified version of our history... but it's for kids. But it's very very very VERY simplified and brushes over some parts and all that, but... but it's for kids.
Yes, the entire time I read this book I had mixed feelings over it. The illustrations are okay, but they do not stand out nor do they bring anything to the books.
That being said, I really think this book will be enjoyed by the little ones and even if it's an extra short version of humanity's history, it is a start.
This is a super super super simplified version of our history... but it's for kids. But it's very very very VERY simplified and brushes over some parts and all that, but... but it's for kids.
Yes, the entire time I read this book I had mixed feelings over it. The illustrations are okay, but they do not stand out nor do they bring anything to the books.
That being said, I really think this book will be enjoyed by the little ones and even if it's an extra short version of humanity's history, it is a start.
April 16, 2019
This book is interesting, however I can think of at least 10 reasons why it will either get banned, or not purchased at all. Example, illustrations that show nudity, or semi nudity, when referencing America, the references are all bad, while other countries or skipped over or praised, the fact that it believes in evolution, etc. I personally find nothing wrong with the story, but it very much reminds me of a little kid standing in front of a classroom telling his friends how people were created. It’s the way the book flows. Happy thing, sad thing, happy thing, scary thing. While personally I don’t mind this book, and wouldn't care if someone objected to it, I wouldn’t buy it for my library collection because better books on the same topic exist.
April 17, 2019
The Story of People by Catherine Barr & Steve Williams is a cute introduction to the timeline of humanity for young readers. With engaging artwork, and easy to follow language, this is the perfect introduction to anthropology! It follows humanity from our earliest incarnations, covering how modern humans evolved, and through the rise of civilisation, up to present day. It covers the good and the bad of human history, not shirking harsh topics like slavery. I read this with my cubs and we all enjoyed it.
***Many thanks to Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
***Many thanks to Netgalley & Quarto Publishing for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
April 17, 2019
This a beautiful colourful loo at human history. This is perfect to read to or read with children. I was blown away with the gorgeous illustrations in the book.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews