Factology: The Maya: Open Up a World of Information!

Genre

Non Fiction

Age range(s)

Publisher

Button Books

ISBN

9781787081840

Format

Hardback

Published

21-10-2025

Synopsis

Take a closer look at the myths surrounding a remarkable Mesoamerican civilisation that was centuries ahead of its time. Were aliens partly responsible for the Maya's pyramids? Did they really predict the end of the world? Why did they abandon their cities and return to the rainforest? Find all the answers in Factology: The Maya.

Visit the incredible buildings of the Maya's magnificent cities, many of which still stand today. Discover how the Maya made groundbreaking advances in farming, astronomy, mathematics, and writing, long before the Western world. Filled with fascinating facts and head-spinning mythology, kids will discover an adventurous world full of fearsome gods, brave heroes and unbelievable knowledge in this graphic guide.

Each volume in the Factology series provides a fast-paced and fun introduction to its subject, explaining key concepts and highlighting significant events in a manner that is clear, accessible and entertaining.

The KS2 and KS3 school curriculum is consulted when devising each Factology volume, to ensure that the books cover important educational topics, making them a perfect teaching aid for learning history and STEM subjects.

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Reviews

Sue

Full of fascinating information, this new addition to the 'Factology' series offers a detailed look at the ancient Maya. Starting with an explanation of who the Maya were - and are - Factology: The Maya provides a timeline of events happening in the rest of the world as the Maya civilisation developed, allowing readers to make connections with other historical periods and events which they might be familiar with.

The book carefully explains the importance of the 'Popol Vuh', a sacred Maya text, and how this survived, allowing readers today to become familiar with their origin stories and what they believed. Vivid illustrations accompany a 'whose who' of some of the major gods before some of their myths are retold, presented in graphic form.

Highly engaging, vocabulary and additional details are explained, deepening understanding of these complex stories. Plenty of information about daily life is included, with a focus spread on chocolate and its importance to the Maya.

Divided into three sections, the book looks at the pre-classic, classic and post-classic periods, charting the rise and decline of this great civilisation, including investigating the theory that aliens were around at this time and how they might have helped the Maya build their pyramids!

The book ends with a quiz (including answers!), encouraging children to reflect on their reading - or look up the answers! In the current KS2 History National Curriculum, the Maya are one of the study area choices for a non-European society that provides contrasts with British history and this book would make an excellent addition to library or class resources to support this.

96 pages / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher