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The series is available on Amazon here.
{I purchased these books myself. All opinions are my own!}
Read on for a detailed REVIEW.
As soon as my husband, who has a graduate degree in U.S. History, wanted to play a Presidents Trivia Game on our honeymoon {I kid you not}, I realized that my understanding of our country’s own past was seriously lacking. So, I’ve always been very aware of the need for fun, but high-quality, resources to create a full and meaningful history curriculum for our son. And just like Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Artists does for Art History, Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents does for American History.
In addition to reviewing the
CALIBER OF CONTENT,
and the
EFFECTIVENESS OF ITS ILLUSTRATIONS,
I will also include information on the
APPROPRIATENESS AS AN ALL-AGES READ ALOUD,
ADAPTABILITY TO ACTIVITIES and the
QUALITY OF THE PHYSICAL BOOK.
And at the end, you’ll find an
EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION from an adult perspective plus an
ENJOYMENT ASSESSMENT from the perspective of a few students!
NAME OF THE SERIES: Getting to Know the U.S. Presidents
AUTHOR: Mike Venezia
PUBLISHER: Children’s Press
CATEGORY: Biographical and Historical with a humorous twist
INDIVIDUAL TITLES WITHIN THE SERIES: George Washington John Adams Thomas Jefferson James Madison James Monroe John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson Martin van Buren William Henry Harrison John Tyler and more
LENGTH OF EACH BOOK {approximate}: 40 pages
READING LEVEL: 3rd-4th
PRICE {approximate}: Inexpensive at $6.50-8.00
AVAILABILITY: Currently, only SOME of these titles are available on Amazon, but you can certainly find most of them easily and for cheap on eBay. But, as always, the best place to check is your local library!
WHAT THEY’RE ABOUT: Each book highlights the life of one United States President in an easy-to-follow biographical format mixed with humorous imaginings from the author.
CALIBER OF CONTENT: This series contains amazing content that is presented in both a factual, biographical way and in a funny, entertaining way. To me, the secret to the success of this series is that those two approaches are done simultaneously but separately so the humor does not detract from the factual content. SCORE 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥
EFFECTIVENESS OF ILLUSTRATIONS: These books do a great job of mixing images of snapshots/illustrations of the president’s life with silly cartoon drawings from the author’s perspective. In each book, there are purposeful and effective images for every type of reader that span the entire life of each president, from childhood to the end of his presidency. SCORE: 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥
APPROPRIATENESS AS AN ALL AGES READ-ALOUD: This series is perfect not only as a read-aloud but as a read-aloud for nearly everyone. Because the author has created a factual AND funny way to share each president’s history, each book in the series would make a perfect read-aloud from Kinder through Middle School. SCORE: 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥
ADAPTABILITY TO ACTIVITIES: Using one of these books as a springboard for any type of lesson on our presidents is a no-brainer, in my opinion. Each book in the series sets a basic biographical background while also instilling excitement on the topic. Whether you follow the book with printable pages, a craft, or something else, you really cannot go wrong. SCORE: 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥
QUALITY OF THE PHYSICAL BOOK: Most of the books I have from the series are hard-covered but a few are paperback. Either way, all of the books are of high quality with crisp printing, excellent formatting and a secure binding. SCORE: 5/5 ♥♥♥♥♥
EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION from an adult perspective: As a homeschool mom, I have used every single one of these books at home with my own child and have also used several in group settings. At home, they were used as part of our U.S. History curriculum to introduce an understanding of each president and his place in history. In group settings, they were used at the beginning of project-based learning experiences for specific presidents. Either way, this is a winning series that I highly recommend to classroom teachers and homeschool moms alike.
ENJOYMENT ASSESSMENT from students’ perspective: “I like these books a lot because it makes history not so boring.” “I really like how these books don’t show only the good or only the bad about each president. They kinda just seem to show the truth!”
