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A Valley Grows Up facts for kids

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A Valley Grows Up
A Valley Grows Up cover.jpg
Cover of first edition
Author Edward Osmond
Illustrator Osmond
Cover artist Osmond
Country United Kingdom
Subject England from 5000 BCE to 1900
Genre Children's non-fiction, landscape history, cultural history
Publisher Oxford University Press
Publication date
1953
Media type Print (hardcover)
Pages 81 pp. (first edition)
OCLC 4676338
914.2
LC Class DA110 .O72

A Valley Grows Up is a special history book for kids. It was written and illustrated by Edward Osmond and came out in 1953. This book tells the story of an imaginary valley in England.

It shows how the valley changed over 7,000 years. The story starts around 5000 BCE and goes all the way to 1900. Edward Osmond won the important Carnegie Medal for this book. This award is given to the best children's book by a British subject each year. It's rare for a non-fiction book to win this award!

Exploring the Valley's History

This book uses amazing pictures to tell its story. It has ten big, colourful paintings that spread across two pages. There are also many black-and-white drawings.

The simple words and pictures show how the valley's landscape changed. It explains how people slowly settled there over time. The story goes from prehistoric times up to the Victorian era.

How the Valley Changes

The book starts with the valley as an empty forest. Then, it slowly changes into a hillside, a wet swamp, and later a small village. Finally, it becomes a busy Victorian town called Dungate.

You can always spot the same bend in the river. This helps you see how the valley transforms through different time periods. It's like watching history happen right before your eyes!

How the Book Was Created

Edward Osmond was a famous illustrator. He first came up with the idea for this book while helping students. These students had some learning difficulties.

Osmond would draw on a blackboard during his lessons. He created an imaginary village with the students. They built it "from scratch" together.

From Classroom Idea to Book

This way of teaching was very effective. It helped the students imagine history better. This success led to the idea of turning it into a picture book.

The pictures were the most important part of the book. The words were added later to support the drawings. A writer named Marcus Crouch called the book "an imaginative interpretation of history."

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