Social Studies

Abraham Lincoln, Pro Wrestler by Steve Sheinkin (Time Twisters series)

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Roaring Brook Press

Image result for abraham lincoln pro wrestler amazon

Summary:  When fourth-grader Doc tells his teacher history is boring, he unwittingly changes history so that it really is boring.  Doc and his stepsister Abby discover Abraham Lincoln in an old supply closet at the back of the library, and Abe is ready to make the past as dull as the kids think it is.  Textbooks and documentaries change to show a mundane existence for Lincoln and his contemporaries, while Abe, Doc, and Abby shuttle back and forth through time.  Lincoln ends up in a present-day wrestling ring, while their gym teacher finds himself back in 1860, trying to address the crowds in Illinois who have just elected him President.  It all gets straightened out in the end, but Lincoln warns the kids that now that other historical figures have seen what he’s done, they’ll be up for their own adventures, setting the scene for the series to continue.  160 pages; grades 2-4.

Pros:  Kids will learn a little history and have fun with this goofy time-travel story.  A large font and lots of illustrations, some with cartoon bubbles, will draw in reluctant readers or those just moving up to chapter books.

Cons:  It’s a fun romp, but I hope Steve Sheinkin gets back to doing what he does best: writing fascinating histories for older kids like Undefeated and Most Dangerous.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Bad Princess: True Tales from Behind the Tiara by Kris Waldherr

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Scholastic

Amazon.com: Bad Princess: True Tales from Behind the Tiara eBook: Waldherr, Kris, Waldherr, Kris: Kindle Store

Summary:  For centuries, princesses have captured the public’s imagination.  From the “princess wars” between Henry VIII’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth to the 21st century obsession with Kate Middleton, princesses have long been in the public eye.  This book looks at some of history’s “bad” princesses who have been surrounded by scandals ranging from divorce to murder.  Many are European, but there are also appearances by other nationalities like Hawaii’s Princess Ka’iulani and Maitha bint Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, a Dubai sheikha who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in tae kwon do.  Sidebars give interesting additional information about real-life princesses and their fairytale counterparts.  The book ends with a tournament of historical and storybook princesses (you’ll have to find out for yourself if Diana or Cinderella takes it all) and a princess board game.  Includes resources for further reading.  128 pages; grades 4-7.

Pros:  A heavy dose of history is handled with a light touch, complete with pink-tinged black-and-white illustrations and plenty of humor.  

Cons:  So many princesses to keep track of.

If you would like to buy this book through Amazon, click here.

When Sophie Thinks She Can’t… by Molly Bang

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Blue Sky Press

Summary:  Sophie is back, once again learning how to deal with her feelings.  This time, she’s frustrated when she’s trying to do a tangram puzzle and her older sister solves it in a minute, telling her “Too bad you’re not smart”.  When her teacher gives the class a math challenge the next day, Sophie doesn’t want to try, telling herself she can’t do puzzles and is never smart at math.  Her teacher and friends give her more positive messages, and ultimately Sophie is able to contribute to the different ways her classmates solve the problem.  She learns the power of “yet”, as in, “I haven’t figured this out…yet”, which helps her to persist and bring that lesson of perseverance home to her father.  Includes a page entitled “About this book” that tells more about the work of Carol Dweck and the growth mindset versus the fixed mindset.  40 pages; ages 4-8.

Pros:  Caldecott honoree Molly Bang has created another beautifully illustrated book to help young children understand their emotions and think empowering thoughts.  This would be a great discussion starter in a primary classroom.

Cons:  Having sat through more than one professional development on growth mindset and the power of “yet”, this book felt a bit didactic to me.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

March Forward Girl: From Young Warrior to Little Rock Nine by Melba Beals, illustrated by Frank Morrison

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary:  Melba Beals, who told her story of helping to integrate Little Rock’s Central High School in Warriors Don’t Cry, recounts her early days, growing up in Jim Crow Arkansas.  At the age of three, she observed her family making the house quiet and dark each night, hoping the Ku Klux Klan would leave them alone.  She raged at seeing her beloved parents and grandmother slighted and scolded whenever they went into town, and at having to use inferior facilities everywhere, while white people got the best of everything.  As she grew up, her fear and anger turned into a determination to change things and to get out of Arkansas.  She jumped at the chance to go to Central High School, a huge, beautiful school that she had admired for years.  The main part of the book ends right before she starts high school; an epilogue describes the violent and frightening experience of integration.  The text is illustrated with drawings and a few photographs.  224 pages; grades 6-9.

Pros:  Readers will gain a better understanding of what it was like for African Americans living in the South in the 1940’s.  Beals’ conversational tone draws the reader in, and her story is so powerful and compelling (and at times, horrifying) that the book is hard to put down.

Cons:  This book is recommended for grade 5 or age 10 and up.  Be aware that there is a scene in which the KKK storms into a prayer meeting, and 5-year-old Melba witnesses a lynching from the church rafters; at age 11, she gets lost on a dark, isolated road and narrowly escapes being raped and/or murdered by a group of Klansmen.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Be A King: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dream and You by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by James Ransome

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Bloomsbury

Summary:  “Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve….You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”  Martin Luther King Jr.’s words speak to children in this book showing how anyone can “be a King.”  Illustrations portraying scenes from King’s life are interspersed with others in a different style showing kids working together to paint an MLK mural.  Ideas for how to be a King include standing for peace, having a dream, and doing your very best at whatever you do.  The last page shows the kids gathered around the mural with the advice, “You can be a King.  Set your sights on the mountaintop.  Climb a little higher every day.”  An author’s note gives biographical information.  40 pages; ages 4-9.

Pros:  I liked how this book connected the sometimes abstract concepts of King’s work and speeches with concrete actions that kids can take to make the world a better place.  This would be an excellent book to use in conjunction with the day of service aspect of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  There is a lot to look at in the illustrations, with two stories interwoven.

Cons:  Having biographical information on the pages with the pictures of King–even just a sentence or two–would have made this even more useful in helping kids understand his life.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Martin Rising: Requiem for a King by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Scholastic Press

Summary:  The Pinkneys relate the story of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination, beginning with a “Henny Penny Prelude”, in which the fairy tale hen tries to warn of the bitter events ahead.  The remaining poems are in three sections: “Daylight”, “Darkness”, and “Dawn”, in which King’s work is described, particularly the sanitation workers’ strike that brought him to Memphis, Tennessee in March and April of 1968.  The assassination occurs part way through “Darkness”, and includes poems about Coretta Scott King, the Kings’ four children, and James Earl Ray.  “Dawn” is made up of just three poems, concluding with “Rejoice the Legacy” which celebrates MLK’s legacy, including the holiday celebrating his birth.  Back matter includes author’s and artist’s reflections, four pages of text describing the events from the poems called “Now Is the Time” (with several photographs), a timeline, and sources.  128 pages; grades 4-8.

Pros:  Both the poetry and the illustrations are majestic and give the reader much to think about.  The author’s note suggests that the poems could be performed with the “Now Is the Time” section as narration and adding poems to the appropriate parts of the story.

Cons:  The Henny Penny motif was a bit confusing to me.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

The Underground Railroad (American Girl: Real Stories from My Time series) by Bonnie Bader, with Addy stories by Connie Porter; illustrated by Kelley McMorris

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Scholastic

Summary:  The story of the Underground Railroad and slavery in America is told in this chapter book that includes sections on these two topics as well as abolitionists, slave catchers, and the Emancipation Proclamation.  Each chapter ends with two pages told by Addy Walker, the American Girl whose story includes an escape from slavery.  Her narrative is in her voice, drawing from the original American Girl books.  Black and white illustrations and photographs appear every two or three pages.  Includes a note about Addy’s dialect, a glossary, a map of free and slave states and territories in 1856, a timeline, and source notes.  112 pages; grades 3-6.

Pros:  What could have been a simple marketing tool for Addy is actually a very informative, engagingly written nonfiction book.  Other topics in the series will include the Boston Tea Party, the Titanic, and Pearl Harbor.  I will leave it to you to match the topic with the American Girl.

Cons:  On page 25, Quakers are described as “a Christian group who believe that people should shake and tremble at the word of the Lord.”  Having been part of a variety of Quaker meetings for the last fifteen years, I can safely say I have yet to meet a Quaker who fits this description.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

 

Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson; illustrated by Frank Morrison

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

The majority of books I have read in 2018 have been about African-Americans and the Civil Rights Movement.  I will be sharing reviews of these for the next week, beginning today.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary:  A girl tells about her participation in the Birmingham Children’s March of 1963, starting with a family trip to church to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  When he urges the congregation to march, many of the adults are afraid of losing jobs, so young people offer to go.  On May 2, she and other children and teens begin their protest, only to be met with dogs, fire hoses, and arrest.  On the third day, she is sent to jail.  When their story is broadcast around the world, changes begin to happen, and within two months, the girl is playing on a playground she’s never been allowed to use before.  Back matter includes an afterword, an artist’s statement, a bibliography, and three photos from the march.  40 pages; grades 1-4.

Pros:  A compelling story, made even more so by the first-person narration and the large, realistic oil paintings.  The message that one person can make a difference is inspiring.

Cons:  The desegregation process seemed overly simplified.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.

Raid of No Return: A World War II Tale of the Doolittle Raid by Nathan Hale

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Amulet Books

Summary:  In 1942, at a time when the Japanese empire seemed invulnerable, the U.S. government came up with a plan to bomb Tokyo.  Famed aviator James “Jimmy” Doolittle was chosen to lead the raid.  The men who were chosen to join him prepared without knowing anything about the top-secret mission they would be going on.  On April 18, 1942, sixteen bombers, each with a five-man crew, flew off an aircraft carrier, dropped bombs on their targets, then attempted to fly to China.  Fifteen made it, but crashed short of their destinations; the sixteenth landed in Russia.  Most of the men survived, although some were taken prisoner by the Japanese, and three of them were executed.  Although the mission didn’t do much damage, it was an important morale-booster for the United States that led to more military successes in the Pacific.  128 pages; grades 4-8.

Pros:  It’s difficult for me to find superlatives to express how much I love Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales.  For those who dismiss graphic works as “trash”, I would invite them to peruse this book and see how the graphics enhance the information.  Pages 20-24 show an aerial view of Pearl Harbor before and after Japan’s attack, demonstrating how devastating that was to America in a way words alone couldn’t do.  I love all the books; this particular one tells an exciting adventure story placed in the context of the early days of World War II.  There is plenty of humor without any disrespect to the heroic men whose stories are told.

Cons:  There were a lot of characters and planes (80 men and 16 bombers) to keep track of.

If you would like to buy this book through Amazon, click here.

Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero by Patricia McCormick, illustrated by Iacopo Bruno

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Balzer + Bray

Summary:  When a group of U.S. Marines was looking for a pack animal to haul ammunition in the Korean War, they ended up buying a scrawny abandoned horse from a nearby racetrack.  She was given a military rank, and became known as Private Reckless.  The men trained her to duck incoming fire and to retreat, using her insatiable appetite for just about any kind of food to get her to do what they needed.  She learned to stay calm in battle, carrying heavy loads of ammunition on her back.  In one day-long battle, she made 51 trips, totaling 35 miles up and down hills, to carry 9,000 pounds of ammunition.  That earned her a promotion to sergeant, and her Marine friends started a campaign to send her to the United States.  They were successful, and she was able to retire with full military honors and two Purple Hearts, the only animal to ever hold military rank.  An author’s note tells more of Reckless’s story, including a photo and a brief bibliography.  40 pages; grades 1-5.

Pros:  Animal lovers and military history buffs will enjoy this story about a unique horse who won the hearts of the U.S. Marines with her humor, hard work, and bravery.

Cons:  Reckless’s diet of coffee, Coca-Cola, and chocolate.

If you would like to buy this book on Amazon, click here.