Review: GREAT BOOK
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 11, 2013
This book was full of action, little known historical facts and was over too soon for me.But this is a children's book, so it's probably the right length for them.The art work was amazing. Do chameleons really only have three toes on their front feet?  What was going to come out of those seven suitcases next?And just how DO you pronounce the name of that lake?The author must have known every person who read the book would ask, because he provided a little gift to help us with that pronunciation: a free version of this in a slightly different style.An audio book.I don't know just how long this generosity lasts, but I'm very glad I got in on it. That lake has too many letters for me to pretend I'm pronouncing it correctly.And trust me, this review would be glowing with or without the gift.Just like the title says, this is a great book.It's opens the door for you to discuss some bits of American history in depth: why did Roosevelt want to hide his use of the wheelchair; do you think Baby Ruth was really named after a little girl? (If it had been named after The Babe, he would've gotten a cut of the profits.)And the lake. Yes, there were plenty of fish. But imagine what would have happened if the big one that got away from a soldier wound up on the other side's line. I don't want to be any more negative than that.Children aren't born hating. Visit a day care and you'll see two, three and four year olds of all colors and from different neighborhoods hugging and being best of pals.It's up to us parents to keep it that way.Joey didn't know about the animosity between the soldiers and the tribe, so he expected them to get along. In the book, he got what he expected. Maybe if we keep presenting this type of picture to our children, it will change some small part of their future.