Underground Homes

Underground Homes is part of the “Underground Worlds” series. The series focuses on natural and manufactured structures and systems. Underground Homes looks at homes designed to be underground for protection from enemies or from the weather, and homes built in repurposed structures, such as the atomic bunkers in China and missile silos in the United States. Other underground homes have been created in natural settings, such as cliffs or caves. There are examples of underground homes in Switzerland, Australia, United Kingdom, Tunisia, China and the United States. Some are ancient, and some are very new.

Like other books in the “Underground Worlds” series, Underground Homes presents interesting content using many excellent photos and graphic illustrations supported by informative but sparse text. Each topic includes a “DID YOU KNOW” circle text box with additional attention-grabbing information.

The creators of “Underground Homes” have made excellent use of humour in the subheadings to engage the readers. For example, “Drive on Over” is the subheading for an underground house with a roof that you can drive a tractor over. “It’s Not the Pits to Live Here” is about desert homes that began with a huge, round pit dug by hand.

One of my favourite features of the layout of the books in the “Underground Worlds” series is the grass growing at the top of many pages. It is a nice reminder that the information in the books in this series is all ‘underground’.

The series follows the standard nonfiction format, including a table of contents, glossary, index, and a short list of books and websites with further information on the topics.

Although the books are only 32 pages long and the text content is limited, the format is sure to catch the interest of many students and may entice some to dig further into some of the engaging topics. (Pun intended.)