My daughter gave me a strange look when I pulled out a book about Salt, but this was very interesting, easy to understand, fun to read, and we both loved it.

Waste of my time. There's really nothing I enjoyed about this book and a lot I didn't like.

Beautiful illustration. Gave great insights and made me appreciated salt a whole lot more!

I was really excited to find this book as a supplement to our studies about salt around the world. It was the only children's book on the topic I found in our library's system. I read it to our 8 year old and 5 year. It was a bit long for them both, especially the younger one, but overall, I think they enjoyed it. The text level was good for my 8 year old. (I'd say it was good for 8 and up.)

What I loved the most about this book was the illustrations. They were fantastically done - a good combination of realistic, humorous, and informative. The color palate was beautiful. I just really loved the illustrations!

The text was interesting and on many of the pages was an additional box with further details about salt. We learned some fascinating things about salt itself, and its role in history throughout the world. I really liked that the author tied in the Orient and soy sauce as well as the Romans and garum.

One complaint I had about the book is that I felt some of the events were portrayed as too cut and dry - as if salt had been the only reason for certain events. Rarely in history is one solitary thing the cause of an event, especially on a large scale. If the author had used phrases like "salt was a huge factor in X event" or "salt was one reason X happened" I would have been a lot happier. I realize the book is about salt, but you have to make allowances for other facts and truths in a story that is on such a global scale.

The other thing I felt needed work was that some of the things talked about needed clarification. In the section on salt and science, the author brings up Clarence Birdseye, but fails to say why preserving food by rapid freezing was related to salt. (It is, the author just didn't explain how.) Another instance is how salt and drilling for oil are related. The author makes it sound as if all oil is found near salt domes. Is that really true? What about oil drilled for in the ocean? Another sentence or two could have cleared this up for the reader. Even just skimming the book, my husband concluded that all oil is found near salt domes and that salt makes oil! Leading readers to false conclusions is a major issue for a book about history.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it's superb illustrations. I feel it's a valuable contribution to an under represented facet of world history.

A 2007-8 DCF book based on  Salt: A World History. It was informative and interesting and boiled the points of the adult history into a great read for students.

The history of salt--from rock to seasoning to the revolutions and wars that have been fought over it. I had no idea.

While salt may not be the most exciting topic, the way Mark Kurlansky organized the book made it entertaining. This social studies informational picture book is organized in sections, such as the chemical breakdown, uses, where it comes from, history, etc. The pictures are very clean and detailed. The writing is a bit text-heavy, so this book would be better suited for third grade and up, even though it is a picture book. I learned a lot of interesting facts, such that salt is made up of sodium, which can easily burst into flames, and Chlorine, which is poisonous gas, but combining the two balance each other out so salt is neither explosive or poisonous.

This book was a fun and entertaining read, considering the subject matter. I'm not as into geology as I used to be, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading about the history of salt. I feel like any child or adult would be able to relate, considering how good the writing is.

The illustrations added some humor and scope where the words were lacking, making this book very well-rounded. I'd recommend it to anyone trying to get kids into reading nonfiction or just anyone who wants to learn about salt. It covered all its bases and I had fun along the way.

I learned a lot of interesting facts from this book!

Discusses salt from a base perspective - simple yet sophisticated.

Didn't like the illustrations.
Didn't do much for me on the whole.

The history of the world through the lens of salt. Something so common is utterly uncommon.

Really interesting! Who knew there were so many things related to salt? :)