U.S. History Through Children's Literature: From the Colonial Period to World War II
Intended for use by teachers in grades four through eight, this substantial handbook/bibliography offers plentiful, ready-made preparation for using quality fiction and nonfiction trade books to teach U.S. history. Each of the nine chronological units begins with a suggested book for whole-class reading, goes on to suggest books for small groups, and concludes with a lengthy annotated list of additional children's books, teacher resources, computer resources, and videos. The entries on featured books include brief synopses, author information, teaching activities, discussion questions, and vocabulary lists. There are suggested end-of-unit activities, along with occasional recipes, games, and forms for guiding and evaluating children's work. The book's emphasis is on building classroom libraries, with only a brief nod to use by school and public libraries. (Any library containing all the listed material would be quite good.) America As Story: Historical Fiction for Middle and Secondary Schools by Rosemary K. Coffey and Elizabeth F. Howard (ALA, 2nd ed., 1997) overlaps on many titles, and also includes teaching suggestions. But U.S. History Through Children's Literature is far more extensive in scope, making a fine range of books and other materials accessible to teachers and librarians.Margaret Bush, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, Simmons College, Boston, MACopyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.