This history based picture book tells a beautiful story about all of salts great qualities. The story travels through time telling the reading about all the different ways salt was used (scientifically and for cooking) through ancient civilization and how it is used today. The illustrations of this story are beautifully done and each page includes more information about salt.

Loved this history of salt and the cultures it created and destroyed. The timeline at the end adds bits of info not otherwise mentioned. Fascinating stuff.

I learned a lot about salt while reading this book. Some of it was fascinating, such as the expression "worth his salt" refers to the fact that Roman soldiers were paid in salt. Some of it felt a little simplified in favor of salt, such as the assertion that the location of American towns was due to roads (old animal paths ooking for salt) leading to a salt mine. However, my historian husband assures me that the history of salt is extremely important and relative. I liked the pictures and I liked learning about salt, "the only rock we eat.." I did think that the book is a little disjointed and hard to follow from time to time. Inset windows do not see, to refer to the topic on the page, and remind me a bit of a DK book. I would have liked to have seen a slightly moe thematic vein, rather than just be a listing of facts.

I was reaching for a glass of water by the time I finished reading about all this salt! What drew me immediately into the book was the description in the beginning of the strange properties of the author's rock of salt. Kurlansky then goes into a brief description of the chemistry of salt, and then moves on to how salt is found, mined, or made, and what it's been used for throughout history. I had no idea that the control of salt was connected to political control, as it was in ancient Rome. (Speaking of ancient Rome, I also had no idea how fish sauce was made--ewww! And I've eaten it on food too!) This book had some very interesting side notes that I'd like to explore further. For example, I'd love to know more about the French use of salt to preserve prisoners who had died in 17th-century prisons before their trial dates. I'd also like to know more about the perfectly preserved ancient Celtic salt miner found in the Austrian Alps. This book was so interesting that now I must get Kurlansky's adult book, Salt: a World History to read what other little tidbits he's salted this story with. Salt will be more than just a food additive from now on. Recommended!

Added note: I loved S.D. Schindler's illustrations. Kurlansky and Schindler paired up for another children's edition of an adult book, on cod. Gotta get that one too.

Every culture has food traditions and these traditions are put in display in this book. This informational text shows how salt played a roll throughout history and all around the world. There is some excellent science and math contained in the book as well.

The Story of Salt is an informational picture book about salt and its history. The book includes maps, diagrams, and pictures, along with text to inform the readers, as well as a timeline in the back.

Wonderful presentation of the history of salt.

A very fascinating read about the history of salt & how salt affected world history as a whole. And I found new sub genre that I like: microhistory. Although I actually had read one book that categorized in the said sub genre  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

One of the most common items we eat is salt. Some wonder where it comes from and how did it become so popular. Take a journey through the life of salt starting at the rock, what it is and wrapping it up with its current popularity. Salt was used for salting a pig’s thigh, the salt trade in France and the famous Salt March. This Informational social studies picture book provides loads of information for the reader in easy to understand text. The writer included side bars for additional information while the illustrator used unique pictures to relate to the reader. The illustrator and author provided a condensed time line at the very end of the book to give a full visual given on two pages.

After having spent a semester poring over my Chinese History professor's research document concerning the topic enclosed in this book, after the lengthy time I had pored over the Latin research documents concerning the subject, it seems to me that there is much to be uncovered yet in the world of salt, so that is how I regarded it.

My father disapproved of it since he thought it was not aimed at someone like me; he told me it was just a children's book, but I told him that the research all looked valid, so I liked it.
Not only did I like it, but I liked it very much.

What I liked the most about it was how Kurlansky highlights how salt helped foster international trade.
This is something that I have always been interested in, from the youngest of ages, myself.
With the benefit of salt, foods may be preserved and shipped a longer distance than without the benefit of salination.
Therefore I have gone into trying my hand at many of the languages of the world - I remember it being stressful to not feel understood though.
There's nothing to be done about that but to try, try again, though!

Such an everyday item -- who would have thought it would have such a fascinating history. This is a great childrens' nonfiction read. It provides a fine overview of the role and value of salt in a wide variety of world cultures. I learned the origins of the expressions "worth his salt" and "salt of the earth" and why the word "salary" is derived from the Latin word for salt. And, surprisingly, how the city of Buffalo, New York got its name. Check it out -- and have a glass of water handy as you read!

Read this right after Cod - not as good, but I sure learned alot.