South Dakota (America the Beautiful, Second) [Library Binding]

Donna Walsh Shepherd (Author), Donna Walsh Shepherd (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: America the Beautiful, Second

Describes the geography, plants, animals, history, economy, religions, culture, sports, arts, and people of South Dakota.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Library Binding: 144 pages
• Publisher: Children's Press (CT) (March 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0516210939
• ISBN-13: 978-0516210933
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,473,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is a lot more to South Dakota than Mount Rushmore, June 1, 2005

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: South Dakota (America the Beautiful, Second) (Library Binding)

If you were expecting to find Mount Rushmore looking out at you from the cover of this volume of the America the Beautiful, Second Series devoted to South Dakota you were close, but there is a shot of the Badlands instead. However on the back cover there is a shot of the Mitchell Corn Palace to help put things into perspective. I play an Internet game that tests your knowledge on everything under the sun and several times I have come across a series of questions where you have to identify if something is from South Dakota, North Dakota or neither, and I feel 50 percent more qualified to tackle that section now that I have read Donna Walsh Shepherd's book. Her first chapter, "A Blessed Land," admits that "Home on the Range" is a song about South Dakota and covers everything everybody already knows about the state, which is an implicit promise to get beyond those items and cover much more.

Three chapters are devoted to the history of South Dakota, beginning with Chapter Two, "The Olden Days," which begins with the dinosaurs, covers the first European settlers arriving after the Louisiana Purchase, and ends with gold being discovered in the Black Hills. Chapter Three, "From Sioux Wars to Statehood," starts with the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Wounded Knee, and the founding of Deadwood, and ends with the story of why it is we think South Dakota is the fortieth state admitted to the Union, but are not really sure (it was admitted at the same time as North Dakota). Chapter Four, "The Century Turns," begins with the carving of Mount Rushmore and ends with a new battle for the Black Hills.

South Dakota is presented as a "Land of Infinite Variety" in Chapter Five, and notes the state is half way between the North Pole and the equator and halfway between Asia and Europe (ergo, the middle of everywhere). Tourists will find Chapter Six, "Traveling South Dakota," especially useful as it covers what there is to see in each section of the state. The politics of South Dakota is covered in Chapter Seven, "The Shape of Government," where lists all the state symbols from state flower (American pasqueflower) and state bird (ring-necked pheasant) to state fossil (triceratops) and state drink (milk).

The state's economy is the subject of Chapter Eight, which looks at "Cattle, Corn, and Computers." This is also the chapter with the recipe for this book and this time we learn how to make Deviled Walleye Fillets. Chapter Nine, "An Alliance of Friends," explains who are the South Dakotans and covers the educational system. Finally, Chapter Ten, "Having Fun, South Dakota, Style," looks at everything from hiking trails and Black Hills jewelry to famous sons of the state such as news anchor Tom Brokaw and artist Oscar Howe.

The back of the book includes a Timeline of U.S. and South Dakota state history, shown in parallel columns, and several pages of Fast Facts with key statistics. There are also lists of books, organizations and Internet sites where young students can go To Find Out More. This book has plenty of photographs and original maps, and lots of informative sidebars on interesting people (e.g., Sacagawea and Senator Tom Daschle), places (e.g., Badlands National Park, and the Wall Drugstore), and things (e.g., a plague of locusts and why farm prices rise and fall). As promised, albeit implicitly, Shepherd certainly expands our knowledge about the state of South Dakota.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revies of South dakota Book, March 3, 2008

By 

William E. Scott "wantingtoknow" (Houston, Tx) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: South Dakota (America the Beautiful, Second) (Library Binding)

While this book is listed as a childs book, it is also interesting for an adult, just a good all around book on South Dakota.