Customer Reviews

A Kids' Guide to America's Bill of Rights: Curfews, Censorship, and the 100-Pound Giant

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

 

 

Actually, we have her "lives of the Presidents" book, too, and I'd give a review of it about the same title!

This is a fairly readable book, appropriate for interested fifth to seventh graders (or younger, if they like to read, or maybe older if they need a simple introduction)

It's a great topic and Krull uses a nice approach, with lots of illustrative cases that kids might find engaging -- Some are famous Supreme Court decisions, others are recent news stories, many involve minors.

The writing style is ok, nothing great "One day in 1925, John Scopes, a biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, decided to do something daring..." Lots of term-paper-like usage of "many", "some", etc.: "Today, many view school prayer as a way to promote values and ethical behavior in children. Others insist that the teaching of moral values does not require the removal of the wall between church and state."

I find it a little plodding in spots, but my nine year old son didn't seem to notice. And it does provide a good starting point for our own discussions.

Lots of very sensitive political issues are touched on -- and the author definitely has a liberal bias. It's most noticable in the second amendment discussion, but you don't have to look very hard to find it elsewhere. Sometimes I have no idea where she's coming from. In the eighth amendment discussion, just before some predictable stuff on capital punishment, she says "Recently, however, many have come to feel that depriving liberty to any but the most violent criminals may be inappropriate punishment." I think the point about prison conditions is worth making, but I'm not sure I've ever heard it expressed this way before. The restriction to only the *most* violent criminals is a particularly startling touch.

And, I wonder who she means by:
"There are some who see the interests of government as more important than the rights of the people. They can be actively hostile to the Bill of Rights and would just as soon undermine it." Somehow, I don't think she's talking about the Environmental Protection Agency's lack of concern for the takings clause of the fifth amendment. Incidentally, her discussion of the fifth amendment skips that clause completely.

And of course, she has little good to say about the tenth amendment, though she mentions that Bob Dole made a point of quoting it in his presidential campaign.

Despite my last few paragraphs, I actually do like this book, mostly. I *definitely* approve of the concept -- a book about real government issues in a style accessible to kids. And it has led to some interesting conversations with my son, which I find very rewarding (he seems to like them, too).

My high school senior students love this book as a jumping off place for their study of the Bill of Rights. The minute they read about the drug-sniffing dog, or Mary Beth Tinker, they begin to understand the importance of their own rights under the law. By using cases involving teens, the author brings the language and beliefs of the 18th century into the lives of 21st century teens. A great classroom resource, especially for reluctant readers.

This book is wonderful for teaching the Bill of Rights to kids at any age level! I even learned something new! The only thing I saw wrong with it is that when it is talking about Freedom of Religion, it mentioned a case called "Wisconsin v. Loder (1972)." However, the actual case is Wisconsin v. Yoder.

As a teacher and a textbook author, I have often found that books intended for children often are useful to older students as well as to adults, and this book is an excellent example of that! The book is interesting, easy to read, and contains much information that was new to the adults who read it as well as the kids. I would highly recommend this book for its readability, organization, and intriguing content.

I ordered this book as a resource for my middle school student's report on the First Amendment. It was so informative and interesting that I sat down and read the entire book just for fun! The author has a wonderfully readable writing style and makes Constitutional history entertaining. Fabulous!

With all the craziness that is the U.S. political system these days, I decided I needed to know more about our foundational documents. I started with this book, because I wanted an easy intro before I started delving into the hard stuff. (I am an adult with a college degree.)

Even though the book is written for kids -- maybe BECAUSE it's written for kids -- it's an enjoyable read for adults. The explanations and examples made it easy for me to memorize those first 10 amendments, in addition to understanding what they're all about.

I think the only criticism I have is that SOMETIMES opinions are presented as facts . . . mostly in the case of whether the Constitution and Bill of Rights are living documents or not. The author presents them as such, and the only reason I knew about dissenting views in the matter is that I have a good friend who will argue until she's blue in the face that they are NOT living documents. For this reason only, I gave the book 4 stars rather than 5.

My son in 6th grade had to write an essay regarding the 7th amendment, its history, impact today, legal cases regarding etc. I was unable to find sources for him to read that I didn't have to decipher legalese for him to understand frustrating him and me. My cousin, a librarian, recommended the book and once he read about his amendment he really began to enjoy his topic and easily wrote his paper without any more assistance from me. He even wanted to read about the 5th amendment which someone else in his class had to do. This book was a Great way to learn about a complicated amendment.

This book really helped my 13year old son. He loved reading it and the Teacher was very pleased with reviewing the book. An excellent choice and easy reading.

I'm glad I proof read this book before giving it to my child.

You won't need to read long to decide which side of the aisle Kathleen Krull sits on.

I was less then impressed by Ms Krull's work. Taking the 2nd amendment as an example, her information was less then accurate.

PP81 where Ms. Krull claims that "by 1999 about 16 American children a day were being killed by guns.." is even higher than an often quoted figure from HCI. The HCI figure has been shown wrong numerious times.

pp84 Ms Krull states without James Madison to explain himself, people have been arguing about these words since written. When James Madison's good friend Tench Coxe wrote to explain all the amendments in the Bill of Rights he indicated "..The people are confirmed in the next article (2nd amendment) in their right to keep and bear their private arms. Madison told Coxe that "he was indebted to the co-operation of your pen" for helping to explain the amendments to the public. Madison's support of like explainations clearly indicates that the 2nd is an individual right.

pp84 "Lawyers and legal prfessors usually have taken the narrower view: the right to own guns is a collective one..". Really?? why then do 29 out of 32 legal reviews of the 2nd amendment since 1980 indicate the 2nd is an individual right? Why has even famed socialist legal scholar Lawrence Tribes changed his mind and says its an individual right?

I could go on and on. Ms Kull's indication that gun control could prevent crime has been disproven so many times its sad. Even her pointing to England as a place of control providing low crime has been proven wrong since this book was written in 1999. Since then England has experienced a dramatic increase in crime. British Government studies point to the banning of firearm ownership in 1999 as the cause of the problem.

Ms. Kull has high praise for the Brady Bill. However, in the 8/2/00 issue of the AMA anti-gun researchers where forced to admit that there was no data to support the Brady Bill as having reduced crime.

Two issues are clear to anyone who honestly reviews the 2nd amendment: (1) It is an American right to privately own and carry arms (2) Gun control mearly makes it easier for criminals to commit crimes and turns "We the People" into "We the sheep/victum".