Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
If You Traveled at the time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake
Illustrator: Richard Williams
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 6 to 8
Scholastic, 1992 ISBN: 0590437984
Imagine yourself living in San Francisco in April of 1906. Imagine that you are in your bed asleep and the whole world starts to shake. Pictures fall off the walls, books come tumbling off shelves, and windows smash. You are surrounded by chaos and confusion and you soon discover that your city is terribly damaged by a very strong earthquake. Thousands of people are homeless, many have been killed when their homes collapsed, and then, if that isn't bad enough, fires start to break out all over the city.
In this fascinating book the author tells us what it would have been like to experience the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. She presents her information in the form of answers to questions. In this way she tells us , among other things, what the city looked like after the earthquake had done its worst, what people tried to save from their homes, what happened to their pets, where people got food and clothing, and how people kept "their spirits up" in this time of crisis. Full of stories told by the people who really experience this extraordinary event, the book is interesting, interactive, and informative.
This is a fascinating read and is one of series of books which Ellen Levine has written about living in different times in the past
