Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
History in the Making by Kyle Ward (The New Press, 2006) is a nonfiction volume of curated and categorized passages from a variety of high school American history textbooks, from the early days until 1999, showing the ways various stories from history have been told to students over the years. The lengthy subtitle of the
I had so much fun when my kids and I visited Washington, D.C., and visited the National Postal Museum, so I was excited to read a review copy of Who’s Got Mail?: The History of Mail in America by Linda Barrett Osborne (Abrams Books, May 2023). This middle-grade nonfiction book covers the details of the
The middle-grade volume Native Americans in History by Jimmy Beason (Rockridge Press, 2021) shares the powerful stories of Native American leaders, artists, activists and athletes from history and today. The ninety-page volume is easily readable and nicely formatted for either reference or a straight readthrough. The fifteen people discussed receive about 5 pages of text
The American Plate by Libby O’Connell (Sourcebooks, December 2014)Â captures the essence of American cooking throughout by highlighting dishes that were essential or popular throughout history. It is truly American history meets foodie, and I love the end result. Beginning with the “Three Sisters” (Maize, beans, and squash), Ms O’Connell then explores the other sometimes unique
Kid Presidents by David Stabler and illustrated by Doogie Horner (Quirk Books, October 2014) is a delightful picture book with stories of the presidents as kids. But it is not a typical presidential childhood book. Rather than following the presidents in chronological order, Mr Stabler has focused on the presidents’ childhood hobbies, trouble-making, and childhood jobs.
We often encounter books about the wives of US presidents. We’ve seen a number of books about the presidents themselves. But what about the mothers of the presidents? First Mothers by Beverly Gherman and Julie Downing (Clarion Books, 2012) finally puts the mothers’ stories at the forefront. With just one or two pages per mother,
One series I’ve been reading over the past two months are books from the Childhood of Famous Americans series. I found them to be a mixed series. Some of the books are fabulous, while others are a slog. For the most part, each book in the Childhood of Famous Americans series has 15 chapters. The
I spent a few months reading about the Native Americans last fall, so Native Americans: A Visual Exploration by S.N. Paleja (Annick Press, 2013) caught my eye on Netgalley. As a brief visual overview to the subject, it was a nice book for young readers. In general, however, it provided too little to be an
All the Way to America by Dan Yaccarino (Alfred A. Knopf, 2011) is based on the author/illustrator’s true family story of his ancestors coming to America from Italy, taking a little shovel that would prove to be the link between the generations. The shovel, which first is a garden trowel, becomes a shovel for measuring fruit and
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