School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-6-Accessing the material in these titles is sometimes challenging since the books lack contents pages and the index entries often refer to glossary terms rather than relevant events or people. Abundant captioned photos or drawings, most in color and others in sepia or single tones, enhance the texts. Thanksgiving contains quotes from primary sources and readers are given vague ideas where they came from, but there are no footnotes to give complete source information, and the maps are not clearly marked. Stein explains that while some of the stories about Allen border on tall tales, the man was a key player in the American War of Independence and participated in events that eventually led to the statehood of Vermont. Information is presented clearly and succinctly. Lewis and Clark gives factual data on the preparations for the journey, the expedition itself, and life for Lewis and Clark after they returned. This title contains more sidebar facts than the other two, which adds additional detail to the accounts. Numerous books are available on these topics, especially Thanksgiving and Lewis and Clark, so consider the need carefully before deciding to purchase these titles.-Kathleen Simonetta, Indian Trails Public Library District, Wheeling, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.