Kids Learn America!: Bringing Geography to Life with People, Places & History (Williamson Kids Can!)
Grade 4-8-Noted as having been updated for the millennium, this book leaves much to be desired. Arranged by geographical regions, each state is allocated two to four pages. Each chapter has a small map that shows the location of that state in the country and a larger map of the state that locates the places mentioned in the text. Some chapters have simple activities. Each chapter contains an eclectic collection of trivia and other information that has no relationship to the text. "Lights, Camera, Action!" boxes describe some far-fetched methods for remembering capital cities. The text is sometimes wordy, and the sentence structure is awkward. Though the copyright page claims that the information is accurate to the best of the authors' knowledge, readers who are familiar with their home states may find some errors. For example, Kansas contains inaccurate statements about sunflower seeds and a rather glib discussion of tornadoes. Some of the riddles about famous people could be useful for classroom activities, but there are enough flaws here to make this a questionable purchase.Eldon Younce, Harper Elementary School, KSCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.