Laura Orabone, with water color drawings by Elizabeth Buckman. 2000. Elena and the Coin. Center for Desert Archaeology, Tucson, Arizona. 26 pages, plus glossary.
This charming story is aimed at elementary school children, and it tells the story of a little girl who visits an archaeological site and is transported back into the past by what she finds there. The story revolves around excavations at the Presidio, a military fort built in 1775 by Lieutenant Colonel Hugo O'Conor of the Royal Spanish Army, to protect the people from Apache attacks. The book, so the introduction says, was inspired by the elementary school children who visited the excavations conducted at the Presidio in downtown Tucson by the Center for Desert Archaeology.
Filled with pen and ink and watercolor drawings by Elizabeth Buckman, the story teaches lessons about ethics and imagination and the humanity of the past. Maps in the same decorative style as the drawings, and a glossary of Spanish terms are included for the youthful reader.
Filled with pen and ink and watercolor drawings by Elizabeth Buckman, the story teaches lessons about ethics and imagination and the humanity of the past. Maps in the same decorative style as the drawings, and a glossary of Spanish terms are included for the youthful reader.
Elena and the Coin is a well-illustrated and thoughtful book for children. There are pitifully few books on archaeology directed to the general public; there are fewer still directed towards elementary school children. I only hope that others may follow in the pathway so confidently laid by Orabone and the Center for Desert Archaeology.
