Customer Reviews

Guns: What You Should Know (Concept Books (Albert Whitman))

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I like the fact that this book is non-judgemental regarding guns. It states the facts of the situation clearly and succinctly. My eight year old son had no trouble reading it and understanding the content of the text. Use of words and examples is good. I appreciate the fact that guns were not referred to as weapons. This is consistent with firearms training protocols for non-military personnel One technical inaccuarcy was noted. The cut-away illustration of the pistol referred to "bullets" in the pistol magazine. They are properly called "cartridges". But this is a minor detail. The safety message at the end, while thorough, was too wordy to be easily remembered. But it is not inconsistent with the Eddie Eagle Safety Message of "Stop! Don't Touch! Leave the Area! Tell an Adult!" Overall - very nicely done! David G. Coy, CMA, CPA Associate Proessor - Accoutancy Adrian College Adrian, Michigan I am an NRA Certified Firearms Instructor

I have read this book to my primary grade students since it was published. It presents facts about gun safety clearly, without taking sides. It is amazing how many discussions it provokes from the students. It is a great starting place for teaching safety, particularly gun safety, to young students. It should be a "must have" in any elementary school media center.

As a Mass. State/NRA Firearms Instructor, I am always on the look out for books that I can recommend to my students. This book does a nice job of explaining in simple terms the operation and dangers of Firearms and ammunition. It also contrasts the difference between TV, pretend play, and real life. This book is well illustrated and is politically neutral. This a good book for parents that would like to discuss the subject of firearms with their children but don't really know where to begin. I would also recommend pairing it with a book by Massad Ayoob called Gun Proof Your Children / The Handgun Primer.

When my son started pretending to shoot things with a gun (made from his hands, or sometimes a stick) a few weeks ago, I immediately thought to look for a book about gun safety aimed (no pun intended!) at preschoolers.

A children's librarian found this one for me. It is exactly what I wanted--a simple way to explain to my three-year-old that a real gun is very different from a toy or pretend gun. The brief, simple text talks about different kinds of guns (shoulder arms vs. hand guns), how a bullet works, and why guns are dangerous even though they don't look that way on TV. The text states that grownups have different opinions about gun laws in the United States, but that all grownups agree that children shouldn't play with guns. The final page gives rules for what to do if you (a child) ever find a gun.

The illustrations are explicit enough to prompt discussion, but not at all scary. This book has generated lots of productive conversation and questions about guns. Five stars for helping out a busy parent with a tough topic!

Values neutral book is good for children, it will answer their questions, thus stopping most of the curiosity.
recommended by pro and anti alike.

We read the book to our kids and they immediately got the message. Sometimes when we are doing chores or driving in the car I make up a random situation "If you guys are playing at the park and you see a gun laying under a slide, what do you do?" The kids yell "Don't touch it" "Tell Someone".
This book is a great introduction to gun safety.

While I really like this book and feel it explains well, I did need to mark it down a bit since I don't think that it emphasizes enough how kids should not pretend to use guns or stay away from them. The fact that this is only addressed on one page, versus the several pages of how a gun works, was disappointing. I'm not reading this to my sons so they know the difference between guns & how they work... and to get them excited about the concept of how a bullet can travel to the end of the block before they'd even take a step in a race... I'd rather find a book that will supplement the safety training we try to give our children about staying away from guns... not pretending to shoot people... etc...