Amazon.com: Belize (Discovering Central America) (9781590840924): Charles J. Shields, James D. Henderson: Books

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–The volumes on individual countries cover the historical, geographic, ethnic, political, and economic aspects adequately, and Central America briefly introduces the countries in the isthmus. The books conclude with recipes, project and report ideas, and brief chronologies. Belize and Costa Rica contain maps of the relevant nation and portions of bordering ones, but there is no map showing their location relative to the rest of the region. Even more surprising, Central America has only maps of the individual countries. Also, the books are nearly word-for-word reissues of titles in the publisher's Discovering Central America series (2003), with only the statistical and political leadership information updated. Some of the color photographs appear dated. The recipes make no note of adult supervision/assistance (definitely required for some of the preparation steps), and the vocabulary and assumed culinary expertise are beyond the targeted age group. The activities (most of which consist of making flash cards and writing book reports) vary; some are too difficult while others are simplistic. The further-reading resources are almost exclusively for adults.–Lisa Crandall, formerly at Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Library Binding edition.

From Booklist

Reviewed with Charles J. Shields' Central America.

Gr. 5-7. These two volumes are part of the eight-book Discovering Central America series. Central America looks at the region as a whole, briefly reviewing geography and history and providing a glimpse of the area's peoples and cultures. Belize uses a similar approach within the focus of a single country, as do other volumes, which present facts and figures on Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. The books feature color photos and appended material including maps, recipes, a glossary, a chronology, and ideas for projects or reports. Tailored for the quick research needs of students, the titles present their information smoothly and in well-organized fashion. Denise Wilms
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Charles J. Shields Page

Charles J. Shields was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on the Delaware River but raised in Park Forest, Illinois, a community for veterans and their families, an experiment in post-war planning described and critiqued in William H. Whyte's The Organization Man. Shields later attended the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he received degrees in English and American history.

Shields published his first biography for adults in 2006, and Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee went on to became a New York Times bestseller. "This biography will not disappoint those who loved the novel and the feisty, independent, fiercely loyal Scout, in whom Harper Lee put so much of herself," wrote Garrison Keillor in the New York Times Sunday Book Review. "As readable, convincing, and engrossing as Lee's literary wonder," said the Orlando Sentinel.

Two years later, Shields followed-up his biography of Lee with a young adult version: I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee, which received awards from American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults; Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; Arizona Grand Canyon Young Readers Master List.

In 2009, with fellow biographers Nigel Hamilton, James McGrath Morris, and Debby Applegate, Shields co-founded Biographers International Organization (BIO), a non-profit organization founded to promote the art and craft of biography, and to further the professional interests of its practitioners. As of July 2011, BIO has members in 43 American states and 10 nations, including Australia, India, Kenya, and the Netherlands.

Shields is also associate director of the Great Lives Lecture Series at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia which brings prominent biographers and historians to campus. In November 2011, Shields published the first biography of Kurt Vonnegut, And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life.