There is a universal human need for shelter, but much can be gleaned about the particular values, customs, and available resources of a group of people by studying their domiciles. The homes included in the book are a fair survey of almost all regions of the world and socioeconomic conditions, from yurts of Mongolian nomads to capsule hotels in Japanese urban centers. Chapters are organized into types of homes, including those that are built below ground, constructed of plants and animals, designed to be mobile, and configured with cutting-edge innovations to maximize efficiency. The authors include their own asides about their world travels and observations about homes that they have personally occupied. Full-color photographs celebrate the world's most unusual and amazing dwellings. A home is much more than a composition of building materials, and this book is an appealing introduction to a case study in cultural anthropology.--Anderson, Erin Copyright 2014 Booklist

Gr 2-5-What makes a house a home? Using accessible text and inviting photography, mother-daughter team Tate and Tate-Sutton take readers on a tour of homes, celebrating the diversity of structures that different groups of people, in the past and the present, have constructed around the world (and in outer space: the International Space Station is also mentioned). Chapters focus on all kinds of homes-underground, portable, and those constructed from nature-based and innovative materials. Structures as large as castles and as small as capsule hotels are highlighted, along with those created by necessity (the World War II-era Priest's Grotto caves and the contemporary storm drains of Las Vegas); homes that accommodate nomadic cultures, such as Mongolian yurts; and houses designed to meet the unique challenges of geography, including igloos built from ice and palafitte houses (abodes on stilts) built in flood zones. Captioned photographs include images of people, structures, and daily activities, including eating and studying. Potentially unfamiliar terms are defined in the text, "Home Facts" margin notes accent relevant statistics, and "My Place" sidebars feature first-person reflections from the authors, whose extensive travel experience informs their perspective. The textbook-style layout suggests an audience of social studies classrooms, but the subject matter makes the book appealing for pleasure reading as well. A detailed index models the process of index use, and the shortened URLs in a website "Resource List" make addresses easy to copy and share. However, no bibliography of print sources is included. Overall, an appealing and accessible addition to a global studies curriculum.-Jill Ratzan, I. L. Peretz Community Jewish School, Somerset, NJ (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The myriad definitions of home are explored in this survey of domestic dwellings people have built across the world and over time. Arranged by structure type and filled with colorful photographs, chapters describe the materials and ingenuity involved in designing teepees, yurts, capsule hotels, and more (including many of the authors' past homes), spanning diverse socioeconomic situations and natural resources. Websites. Ind. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Once you start thinking of your home as a sanctuary, then your ingenuity can run pretty wild, as seen in this global tour of dwellings. People find habitation pretty much anywhere, from scrap tin and wood to a sizable piece of cardboard. But destitution is not the Tates' point. It is to show how people have used the materials at their disposal to fashion creative and wildly diverse dwellings not as a matter of last resort but as a matter of snugness, a place that provides a sense of comfort and security. The photographs are key: They convey a sense of place, evoking places where readers could imagine unfurling their bedrolls. The Tates moved about a great deal as kids, living in over 50 places by high school, so they have seen their share of different homes. But here, they get into some good and curious abodes: castles to yurts to igloos, Japanese capsule hotels (not for the claustrophobic), long houses and treehouses, wagons to teepees, and lots of caves and underground sites, including abandoned opal mines and storm drains. The supplementary text provides setting and logistical peculiarities, but more than that, it provides anecdotes about the homes, from the beautiful designs on the vardos (Romany caravans) to the cave complex used as sanctuary by Jewish refugees from the Nazis. "Sanctuary" springs from the Latin sanctus, or holyand the Tates have kept that well in mind. (Nonfiction. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.