Colombia: The Gateway to South America

by Lois Markham

Introduces the geography, history, people, and culture of the country known as the Gateway to South America. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Library Binding
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0761401407
• ISBN13: 9780761401407
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Cavendish Square Publishing
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Without a doubt...the best book for students in grades 4-7

Hats off to author Lois Markham, "Colombia: The Gateway to South America," is the best source of information on Colombia for students in grades 4-7. Markham is a clean, succinct writer who has written numerous books for children, including biographies of Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison and Helen Keller. However, Colombia is an extremely complex country and difficult to quantify. Consequently, the author takes special care to present information in an accurate and objective fashion. Credit must also be given to Linda-Anne Rebhun, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Yale University who contributed an expert review of the manuscript. Markham touches all the bases in this small compact (64 pages) book. She explains the geography of the four Colombias; mountains, coast, plains and tropical rain forest. She details the two main Indan groups in Colombia; the Chibcha in the plateaus near Bogota and the Tairona on the Coast. Markham also describes how Spanish explorers found Colombia in 1499 and how early Conquistador's sought riches and not the development of a nation. The Spanish controlled Colombia for three centuries until the first independance in July 20, 1810 and the final defeat of the Spanish by Simon Bolivar on August 7, 1819. Still and all, this book is much more than geography and history information. The author does an outstanding job reporting intimate details of the people of Colombia, of the family life, festivals and food. She also researches education and recreation inside Colombia as well as provide brief biographical essays of the great Colombian artists; Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Fernando Botero, Jorge Isaacs, Jose Eustasio Rivera and Alejandro Obregon. This book also contains beautiful photos of the Colombian landscape and people, a one-page country map, a two-page synopsis of country facts, a glossary, suggestions for further reading and an index. Highly recommended. Bert Ruiz