Gillian Richardson is a British Columbia author who makes children excited about history in these illustrated books for upper elementary students. Other books in this series are 10 Plants that Shook the World and 10 Ships that Rocked the World.

Arranging history this way is a great way for Richardson to show how similarities and differences between cultures and histories for different groups of people.

My children were especially interested in the Serengeti Migration Trail, traveled by millions of people and animals. Imagine walking alongside a confusion of wildebeests! Apt name for a group of those animals, I think.

The Inca Trail and Camino de Santiago are two of the routes my kids and I have done on the virtual My Mission challenges, so it was great to add some historical context to their medals!

Canadian content comes from the Bering Strait and from the Chilkoot Trail, so it met my requirements for the kids to use for social studies.

This, and its companion books, is a great way to bring a social studies lesson to life for middle grade readers.

This book is very informative and a great read for young and old. I really enjoyed it. Everyone should read this book.

I'm always on the lookout for truly international books, and this fits the bill. The ten routes are found on five different continents. And while some of the comparisons rely on American knowledge (i.e. Vietnam is smaller than New Mexico), the perspective is not American. For example, the section on the Ho Chi Minh trail is written from the perspective of Vietnamese citizens who looked at the US as the enemy. Interesting factual tidbits will appeal to browsers, while the variety of routes and historical time periods represented mean this will be useful for curriculum support. I'll be recommending this to the international schools I work with.

10 Routs that Crossed the World by Gillian Richardson is a book that discusses the history behind 10 important routes in the world. Each chapter begins with a short story based on the specific route and then proceeds to facts about the place. Extremely interesting for kids who enjoy history. 

Pretty much every important road and trail in history are described and discussed. From Route 66 back to the Bering Strait. The Camino de Santiago trail in Spain and its importance to pilgrims for centuries as well as the Appalachian Trail and why people hike it. I had never even heard of the war-torn Khyber Pass connecting Afghanistan and Pakistan. I'm already scheming how we can add this to our World History study next year. This one does not read like a textbook at all. We especially enjoyed reading about the Serengeti and the migration of millions of animals. There is an extended bibliography and a list of further reading if you'd like to explore any of these topics more in depth.

This book is written for middle grade students. They will enjoy the historical background to the trails and the stories. 

I received this book from Annick press via NetGalley in response for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, the layout was great and I loved the detail - even as an adult I learnt from the content so I can really see how much benefit reading this book would have for middle school aged children. 5 stars from me for this one - definitely one I'd recommend.

Informative but in a very dry way. Tried getting into it with my kids who love facts and I just couldn't.

Each route features a short story set in a historical context before the pages that contains the map of the route and the explanation of its significance. A must for any classroom where geography is taught either directly or through cross-curricular integration.

I was really impressed with the research the author did for this book. It was fascinating to read the history behind 10 important routes in the world. Each chapter begins with a short story based on the specific route and then proceeds to facts about the place. Extremely interesting for kids who like history.

10 Routes that Crossed the World take a brief historical look at nearly a dozen major paths/trails/roads or networks of the same that had a large impact on human (and in one case, animal) history. The ten are:
• Beringia: the land bridge that possibly served as the first entryway into the American continents
• Roman Roads
• Camion de Santiago: a Christian pilgrimage route in Spain
• Incan Roads
• The Khyber Pass: the mountain pass connecting Afghanistan and Pakistan
• The Trans-Siberian Railway
• The Chilkoot Trail: the way into the Alaskan gold rush fields
• The Serengeti Migration Trail: the largest movement of mammals in the world
• Route 66
• The Ho Chi Minh Trail

Each section opens with a map, though several of them could have done with more detail. Laid over the map are a few text boxes of basic information: the time context, a very brief description, why the road was important, and who currently uses the road. A full-page illustration follows, and then an associated one-page piece of fiction set on the path itself, some placing their character in historical times, others setting the story in modern time. I’d say these stories vary in success, some more effective than others in personalizing the history so that it isn’t simply an accretion of abstract facts.

After the brief fiction piece, the author does quite a strong job with several pages of history surrounding the construction of the particular road, its purpose, its maintenance, the impact on the society that created it, and its existence in the world today. The information is clear and concise, and the author, when necessary, is always upfront about what parts are speculation and which solid fact. Richardson also expands beyond the focus of each chapter with a few brief sidebars of related information, such as a fossil discovery in Beringea, other sites of importance in determining early human migration to the Americas, Roman surveying tools, and the like.

While I would have liked better maps, and the artwork didn’t do much for me, the information provided is excellent and conveyed in clear, easy-to-follow fashion; the fiction pieces are often a nice touch, and Richardson does a nice job of showing how historical paths aren’t stuck in the past but can still play a role in today’s world. Recommended.

An excellent book that I hope to share with my class.

I really like this series- it's great how various areas history is woven into the routes, providing historical and geographical context. The writing is compelling the layout is good but I really don't like the full page illustrations- ugly colors and I just can't see it appealing to the target audience/ age group.

Cool book! I'd guess 4th grade up would enjoy this book! Ant kid with a sense of adventure would read this and dream of visiting some of these places some day! I know I do! I've already cover RT 66 both as a kid and as an adult! It's changed over the years, but still worth a drive from Chicago to LA! Amazing journeys!

I thought I would find this subject fascinating. The land bridge, the Roman roads, Incan routes, these are back bones of civilizations that we are marginally aware of, but that's it. I thought it would be really cool to learn how roadways were constructed, the purposes they served. In the end, though, what are roads for other than to move people and/or supplies. A decent choice for a history buff but a pass for the general population.

I thought this sounded a bit interesting when I requested the galley, but it was infinitely more fascinating than I had imagined! I'm definitely keeping my copy. I enjoy children's non-fiction as it's often far less dry and more accessible to read than some adult non-fiction, while still being informative! And in this case wonderfully detailed.

I have to admit that after the first two I skipped over most of the short fictional stories at the start of each chapter. I was much more interested in learning the facts!

The ten routes were:
The Bering Strait/former land bridge (connecting Alaska and Russia)
Roman Roads (mostly in England, a lot of which still exist in some form)
Camino de Santiago (pilgrimage in Spain)
Inca Roads (similar to Roman but for human and llama traffic not horse and carts)
Khyber Pass (and Silk Road)
Trans Siberian Railway (a friend of mine is on that RIGHT NOW and I'm seeing all the photos on Facebook so this one was especially awesome, and I would have liked a lot more!)
Chilkoot Trail (in the Yukon - Klondike Goldrush era)
Serengeti Migration
Route 66 (as a non American I honestly knew nothing about Route 66 other than its name! This was awesome and made me think of the Neon Boneyard in Las Vegas)
Ho Chi Minh Trail

An easy and fun read as well as very interesting, I read this entirely today and was quite sad when it ended. I'd have loved it to have been rounded up to twelve to maybe include the Kokoda track and the Eyre Highway!

Written for middle-grade readers, 10 Routes That Crossed the World is a great book. We're buying it. From the Introduction:
From ancient times to modern days, people have laid trails across the land. If we follow their footsteps along these routes, we find stories of migrations, discoveries, wars, and the settling of new countries. They tell us of tests of faith and dreams for the future. The journeys may be long or short, but you’ll be amazed by how far they’ve reached, the traces they’ve left, and the lives they’ve changed.

Pretty much every important road and trail in history are described and discussed. From Route 66 back to the Bering Strait. The Camino de Santiago trail in Spain and its importance to pilgrims for centuries as well as the Appalachian Trail and why people hike it. I had never even heard of the war-torn Khyber Pass connecting Afghanistan and Pakistan. I'm already scheming how we can add this to our World History study next year. This one does not read like a textbook at all. We especially enjoyed reading about the Serengeti and the migration of millions of animals. There is an extended bibliography and a list of further reading if you'd like to explore any of these topics more in depth.

This is a book that you didn't know you wanted to read. Sure, most people, in the States, have heard of Route 66 and the Oregon Trail (which actually is only mentioned in passing here), and perhaps, depending on your age, the Ho Chi Minh trail, but how many have Khyber Pass and Camino de Santiago. This and six others are covered nicely in this middle-school level book.

Each route is shown, a little history is given, and what the trail is used for today.

Lots to learn, and a well written book to explain it. Some trails are also thrown in when talking about one of the trails, such as the Trail of Tears, when talking about Route 66, because some of its route followed a bit of the trail.

Would highly recommend this book to schools, libraries and individuals. What a cool book to explain the use of trails, and why each of them was important.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.