School Book Saturday: Adams, Shackleton & Obama (Who was/is....? series)

 Who was Abigail Adams?
by True Kelley, illustrated by John O'Brien. Grosset & Dunlap (Imprint of Penguin Group), 2014. 112 pg. (9780448478906)
Series: Who was/is…?
Dewey: J973.4
Reading level: 4.6
Interest level: 3rd-6th

Publisher Description:
Abigail Adams was a strong woman far ahead of her time. She urged her husband, President John Adams, to "remember the ladies" and despite having no formal education herself, she later advocated for equal education in public schools for both boys and girls. She was also the first First Lady to live in the White House! This biography tells the story of Abigail Adams and her role in America's Revolutionary War period.

My Review:
I enjoyed this brief biography of this truly remarkable woman. It is an excellent introduction to her life and what she did while her husband was away serving the fledgling US government. At one time they didn't see each other for five years!

The sentences were short; easy for young readers. The pen and ink illustrations show the clothing, housing, tools and modes of transportation of the day. There are a few maps and several boxed inserts focusing on specific events or people in her lifetime. The careers of her husband, John Adams (2nd US president) and son, John Quincy Adams (6th US president) are also told about as they relate to her.

At the end is a timeline of her life and the world, a brief bibliography including books for young readers and a list of websites (only one didn't work) for further research.

Great for 3rd to 5th graders looking for a biography of an amazing woman from the American Revolution and the early years of American government.

4 stars

Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon ($4.49); Buy it from Barnes &Noble ($4.49); Buy it from ChristianBook ($4.49); Buy it from an Indie Bookstore near you
(Paperback prices good as of July 12, 2014; double check for yourself before purchasing)


Who Was Ernest Shackleton? 
by James Buckley Jr., Illustrated by Max Hergenrother. Grosset & Dunlap (Imprint of Penguin Group), 2013. 112 pg. (9780778729563)
Series: Who was/is…?
Dewey: J919.89
Reading level: 4.6
Interest level: 3rd-6th

Publisher Description:
As a boy he preferred reading sea stories to doing homework and, at age 16, became an apprentice seaman. Subsequently, Ernest Shackleton’s incredible journeys to the South Pole in the early 1900s made him one of the most famous explorers of modern times. His courage in the face of dangerous conditions and unforeseeable tragedies reveal the great leader that he was. His historic 1914 journey aboard the Endurance has all the drama of an action movie.

My Review:
I quite enjoyed learning more about this explorer of the freezing cold. This book was more interesting to me than the Abigail Adams book since I knew (in the recesses of my mind) most of her story and Shackleton's story was for the most part a new bit of history to me.

The writing is simple and engaging. Kids will enjoy his adventures living in a boat and on ice for months on end. The illustrations are very well done and really enhance the text.

At the end of the book are two timelines, one of his life and one of world events. There is a bibliography that includes several websites. Nothing listed is specifically geared toward children but students 5th grade and up should find the websites interesting and informative.

4 stars

Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon ($4.49); Buy it from Barnes & Noble ($4.49); Buy it from ChristianBook ($4.49); Buy it from an Indie Bookstore near you
(Paperback prices good as of July 12, 2014; double check for yourself before purchasing)

Who Is Barack Obama? 
by Roberta Edwards, Illustrations by Nancy Harrison and John O'Brien. Grosset & Dunlap (Imprint of Penguin Group), 2009. 112 pg. (9780448453309)
Series: Who was/is…?
Dewey: J973.932
Reading level: 4.9
Interest level: 3rd-6th gr

Publisher Description:
As the world now knows, Barack Obama has made history as [the] first African-American president [of the United States of America]. With black-and-white illustrations throughout, this biography is perfect for primary graders looking for a longer, fuller life story than is found in the author's bestselling beginning reader Barack Obama: United States President.

My Review:
All but the last three chapters are apolitical (for the most part). At that point the story reaches his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, his run for US Senate and then of course his US presidential campaign. Since the book was published in 2009 there is no mention of his presidency, but that is for the best since it takes a while before the big picture can be seen and he's currently the president.

I enjoyed learning more about Obama's childhood and college years. The book doesn't go into very much detail, but it highlights the main events and tells about the many places he grew up. Kids would find this a great source for a biography book report or for a project on the president.

The Civil Rights Movement is mentioned but simplified and misrepresented to the point that it strongly implies no African-Americans had the right to vote until the 1960s. Which of course is false and misleading since African-Americans had been voting for almost 100 years, though they had quite a bit of difficulty in some southern States. Hence the Civil Rights Movement.

As with all the books in this series there is a timeline of the person's life and a timeline of world/US events. There are five books listed in the bibliography - two are for young readers and two are Obama's own books. No websites were listed.

Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon ($4.49); Buy it from Barnes & Noble ($4.49); Buy it from ChristianBook ($2.29); Buy it from an Indie Bookstore near you
(Paperback prices good as of July 12, 2014; double check for yourself before purchasing)

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School Book Saturday: Aztecs & Antarctica

As a school librarian I buy, skim and shelve a lot of non fiction for children and youth. One benefit to being in the States during the summer is that I can borrow stacks of books from the library to evaluate them for my school.

So I decided to start a (hopefully) regular feature focusing on elementary, middle school and high school non fiction. If anyone else is interested I could even figure out how to do a link up thingy (a very technical blogging term ;-)

I'd love feedback and opinions! How many books should I write about in each post? Should I group books by topic, by age range, by series, all or some of the previous?

You Wouldn't Want to Be an Aztec Sacrifice!: Gruesome Things You'd Rather Not Know (Revised Edition) 
by Fiona MacDonald, illustrated by David Antram. Franklin Watts (Imprint of Scholastic), 2013. 32 pg. (9780531271049)
Series: You wouldn't want to be...
Dewey: J972
Reading level: 5th grade and up
Interest level: 3rd-6th

Publisher Description:
You are a young man of noble family in the Central Valley of Mexico. Your city is about to be visited by your overlords, the Aztecs: fearsome warriors who practice human sacrifice. Will you be one of their victims? This new extended edition includes a map and a timeline of the Aztec civilization, and a selection of chilling facts.

My Review:
This is from a fun series that ought to appeal to kids. However, the students at my school are more drawn to the topic than the fun illustrations. We don't have this book but we do have the Pony Express one and Ninja Warrior. There is absolutely no interest for the pony express, but I've had lots of boys and a few girls ask where the book is about ninjas.

A few observations I jotted down after reading this book:
- There's no bibliography.
- It does have a timeline, index and glossary.
- How do they know some of that stuff?!
- Makes light of human life / murder / sacrifice. [And it's rather gruesome]

"Walking slowly up the temple steps, you are grabbed by five priests and flung on your back across a sacrificial stone. You see no more..." pg 24

"You die quickly and with little pain, but the sacrifice is not over yet. the priests cut your heart from your body and raise it high toward the sky to show it to the gods.  ... Next, they cut off your head and display it in a skull rack along with hundreds of others. ... Finally, your blood is poured down the temple steps, and your limbs are tossed to the crowds of worshipers below. The warrior who captured you collects the limbs and takes them home. He cooks and eats your sacrificed flesh." pg 26 

Several grades study the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs which is why I was considering this book. However, since this is a period in history I'm less familiar with and it's not one that we have a lot of easily understood written records of, I would have liked a bibliography to prove that the authors know what they're talking about.

Aside from the gruesome description of the human sacrifices, I don't like how the texts portrayed human sacrifice as a perfectly acceptable ritual. In a way it's actually good that it's gory because it shows how terrible human sacrifice and cannibalism is.

Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon; Buy it from Barnes &Noble


The Antarctic Habitat 
by Molly Aloian, Bobbie Kalman. Crabtree Publishing Company, 2007. 32 pg. (9780778729563)
Series: Introducing Habitats
Dewey: J577
Reading level: 3rd
Interest level: K-1st

Goodreads Summary:
This detailed description of the snow- and ice-covered continent of Antarctica features birds, seals, and whales of the Southern Ocean.

My Review:
I thought the reading level was more second grade. Most sentences have about 6-8 words. Unfortunately there is no pronunciation guide, especially for 'phytoplankton', 'photosynthesis', 'herbivore', 'carnivore', and 'omnivore'. But all other words and terms should be somewhat familiar to kids.

Some words are in bold but there is no glossary at the end with definitions, just an index of where those words are found in the book. The words are defined in the text.

"Millions of tiny plants grow in the Southern Ocean. They float near the top of the water. These ocean plants are called phytoplankton."

The photos and illustrations are all nice and enhance the text. But I wish some scale had been provided as it's impossible to tell just how huge the blue whale really is (a full length photo is included) nor how wide the wing span of the albatross is.

I like that this book doesn't combine the arctic and antarctic regions, the amount of material covered and the illustrations. I'll take a look at the other books in the series and will keep this in mind if/when we need some habitat books for the younger grades.

Find it at a library near you; Buy it from Amazon; Buy it from Barnes & Noble; Buy it from an Indie Bookstore near you

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Remember - Anytime you visit Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com or ChristianBooks.com use an affiliate link to get there. Any purchase you make from a link on my site generates a small kickback. You need not purchase the item I'm featuring, any purchase counts. It costs you nothing extra and is an easy way to support this site.