City, by David Macaulay

City: A Story of Roman Planning and Construction
by David Macaulay (1974) is the story of how an imaginary Roman city goes from just a few tents to a metropolis with marvels of engineering like an aqueduct and a bridge 60 feet over a river. His trusty drawings build a picture in your mind as you watch the city growing.

I especially liked the description of the building of the forum, the heart of the city, because that was cool. There are fascinating details, like how Roman sidewalks were built, and how to build a good aqueduct. Fact--aqueducts were built about fifty feet off the ground, to keep the water from being poisoned or stolen.

This a bit hard for the average third grader to read to himself, and is more for fourth graders and up. But younger kids can enjoy having it read out loud to them, and studying the pictures. Definitely! You have to study the pictures to get what he's saying, and the pictures are awesome.

For more great non-fiction, visit the Non Fiction Monday posts at Picture Book of the Day.