Eureka!

Mosque

Publication Information

Author: Macaulay, David

Illustrator: Macaulay, David

Title: Mosque

Date: 2003

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

City: Boston

ISBN, paperback: 0-618-24034-9

ISBN, hardback:

Recommended audience:

ABE/ABLE: Yes

ESOL:

Family:

Young Adult:

Picture: Yes

General Information:

Book Type(s): nonfiction, reference

HSE Descriptor(s): language arts - reading

Summary:

Once again David Macaulay describes and illustrates the construction of a traditional structure, this time a fictional mosque (but similar to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul). An introduction, a map, and a glossary aid the reader in following the text.

Teaching Ideas:

More colorful than his previous black-and-white illustrated descriptions of the construction of buildings, this step-by-step building of an Ottoman mosque in 1595 needs some preparation in vocabulary, Islamic religious practices, and perhaps, some knowledge of the Ottoman empire. Readers might research the religious use of parts of the mosque--the fountain (ritual cleasing), the minaret (call to prayer) and the prayer hall (bowing toward Mecca). The material on www.pbs.org/empires/islam might be helpful. The detailed step-by-step progress of the building of the mosque provides an excellent example of process writing. The book might be included in a small text set that has Islamic culture as a backdrop: Persepolis, The Librarian of Basra, Ahmed's Secret, and The Shadow Spinner. Readers might explore gender roles in the 16th Century Ottoman Empire; what were the women doing while the men built the mosque.

Teaching Strategies: