Life In The Ancient Indus River Valley

by Hazel Richardson

Describes the social development and organization of the early inhabitants of present-day Pakistan, including overland and sea trade, the caste system, and religious beliefs.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, India, Historical, Ancient History

32 pages, Library Binding

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Hazel Richardson is a science author and editor, with a background in genetic research. She has written 16 books, including 4 international best-sellers.

Reviews

[Ebookwormy1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid resource. Like other books in this series, this work effectively uses photographs of artifacts, sculpture and landscaping to give the reader a 'feel' for the subject matter and prevent the pages from becoming too text heavy. There is a bit of repetition, but I feel that reinforces main points for restless kids.

I would like a little more attention to time line as it seems to jump around a bit and even dabbles in modern India. The title "Ancient" Indus River valley is a bit deceiving, as it more covers, broadly, Indian history as a whole.

[Amy Bodkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot of information on overall Indian/Pakistani history...not just the Ancient Indus River Valley. But, there also seemed to be some inaccuracies or at least misrepresentations of information (dates for some of their literary works were off by hundreds of years). Also, there was no mention of yoga which developed in the Ancient Indus River Valley.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice quick read to start learning about ancient Indian history and culture.

[Andrea M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book written for elementary school and maybe junior high kids covers the ancient Harappans and the Aryans. It discusses their clay cities with innovated plumbing, their sailboats for trading, as well as their writing and mathematics. I enjoyed learning where the caste system came from and how it was perpetuated. The game of chess was invented by the ancient Indians. The book is illustrated with a mixture of drawings and photographs which is one reason I gave it a lower rating.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read....quick information....great way to get at the heart of the information about ancient India. I will definitely come back to this book when we do our India unit. My students will like this book's style, too. So it's a winner for both me and them!!!