The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky is an interesting perspective on history based on one trading commodity, SALT. It has captions that explain how salt is the only rock eaten by humans and how much salt the human body contains.

The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky has an amazing diagram that shows the elements that are involved in making salt.

The Story of Salt by Mark Kurlansky has headings that highlight the information that the reader is about to embark on, for example "My Rock" and "What is Salt?"

The only reason that I'm not giving this five stars is because I wasn't totally in love with it. But I really did like it a whole lot. It's incredibly fascinating how it ties salt into so much history. For example, did you know that salt miners in ancient China were the first to discover and use natural gas? Or that many of the roads commonly used today were created by animals searching for salt? It was so interesting to learn how salt has affected so much of the world's power and how our bodies need salt to survive. This book would be perfect for the type of kid (this is the children's book version) who loves to impress everyone with fun facts.

What an interesting read! I learned so much about humanity from this book!

In this social studies educational book, the reader learns about the origins of salt. Salt is extremely important and helped to build nations as they were starting out. This book goes over different aspects of salt and its historical importance.

We read this as part of our chemistry study and the boys really enjoyed it. We learned a lot about the history of salt and various cultures along the way. The illustrations were very detailed and the text engaging. I'd love to find more science/history books like this one.

The book's insert says that it has 48 pages, but it's actually 44 pages of story material. This is a non-fiction book that describes the history of salt throughout history. (In my opinion, it's best suited for 3rd graders and up.) I like how it acknowledges that each continent (well except Australia & Antarctica) was an active participant is producing or trading salt. I learned that salt was even used in Central & South America, which most history books fail to mention because they focus only focus on the Egyptians & Romans.

I like how it explains the chemical composition of salt, the benefits that salt does for our bodies,& how salt is produced. You get all this information in addition to the history lesson. One thing that stood out to me, was it described in pictures & detail how each culture viewed salt.
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I would break this book down into parts because it's so detailed & long. The history of salt being outlined from ancient times to modern times reminds me of the parts of a story: beginning, middle, and end. So we would do a story map where we discussed what happening with salt in the beginning of time, then the middle ages, and lastly, recent events. I would write down the student responses on the large piece of paper.

A fascinating, whirlwind tour across time, space and cultures that shows how a humble rock, salt, has shaped civilizations, influenced our eating habits, caused revolutions and led to scientific innovation.
•tPotential Use: Great potential for linking across disciplines, notably science and history.
•tChild Appeal: Engrossing story will appeal to children interested in food, science, history and/or language. Carefully organized illustrations and side bars invite the reader to explore and easily understand the great importance of a condiment that they might never consciously consider otherwise.

I knew that salt was important and that words like "salary" came from salt, but now I have a logical way to explain to my students salt's importance throughout history. Full of scientific and historical information presented with interesting text and playful illustrations. A great nonfiction read aloud choice!

I thought this book was very informative and a good thing to teach students in social studies. I always think its interesting to learn where common things we use today come from, and this book tells the entire history of salt, and how differently it was looked at back then compared to today. It also talks about how important it is for the body not only for humans but for animals as well. I think this would be a good book to read for 5th grade and up so that they can already have a background knowledge of the historic events that are talked about in the book.

Fascinating! I wish there was a bibliography so that I could look at the sources of some of this information. For instance, the Erie Canal was built to transport salt. I seem to remember learning something a little more complex. Another example: towns, villages, and cities are all built upon areas where salt was readily available.

Eating anything with soy sauce is going to make me a little squeamish after reading the recipe!

Note: one reference to millions of years.

Travel through time and learn how empires and dynasties have used this little rock to control their power. Learn how different cultures use salt for cooking, barter and their economy and most importantly, discover how salt was vital to the founding of America.