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Description
This book describes the development of the calendar and highlights the civilizations and innovations that are associated with various methods of tracking days, weeks, months, and years.
Quick Summary
Ever wonder why we have seven-day weeks or why the Gregorian calendar skips a leap year every 400 years? This book takes you on a quick tour of how humans have tried to make sense of time, from the ancient Egyptians' 365-day solar calendar to the Mayan Long Count and the messy reforms that gave us the modern Gregorian system. It's written in short, punchy chapters that are perfect for a middle-grader who likes to dip in and out, and it's full of quirky facts like how the French once tried a 10-day week and how the Babylonians' love of the number 60 still lives on in our minutes and seconds. Parents will appreciate that the content is purely educational, with no scary or inappropriate material, and kids can try a few simple activities, such as building a basic sundial or figuring out which day of the week a historical date fell on. If you enjoy this kind of time-traveling trivia, you might also like "Timekeeping: The Calendar" by Susan, which offers a similar mix of history and hands-on projects.