Customer Reviews

Welcome to Molly's World, 1944: Growing Up in World War Two America (American Girl)

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

 

 

This book is simply a marvel.It talks about how life was in 1944 using first hand sources, like real snapshots, posters, helmets. It's the must have book for any girl studying WW2 and, of course, for any Molly's fan. I would recommend it for girls age 10 and above, but even a younger child might appreciate it with the help of a parent, or, better, of a grandmother that can add information on how her life was in those days.

This book does a good job of recreating life, the hardships, deprivations and overall changes required of society on the American homefront during the years of the Second World War. It also shows the lives lived by Red Cross Volunteers, troops as they were transported overseas, nurses, WAV's and WAC's, factory laborers and children. It uses great illustrations and descriptions to personalize the age and show what our forebears endured. I especially liked the effort invested by the author(s) in pointing out how virtually everyone contributed something toward winning the war. This book leaves few stones unturned and I think a brilliant job is done in demonstrating a 360-degree view of what life during this time of struggle was like for millions of Americans.

This is a great book to use in the classroom while teaching children about WWII. The children learned much more from this book than their text book. It shows how children and adults lived during the war. There is a lot of useful information to get the childrens attention for future lessons. I recommend that all children read this book if they are studying WWII. It's not really a story just a lot of information about clothes, toys, sports, food, etc....
It is by far the best resource I have found.

I bought this as a gift for my daughter's friend who recently fell in love with the Molly book series. Before wrapping it, I decided to browse through it to see if I'd want to purchase a similar book for my own daughter. Almost 2 hours later I put it down after reading it cover to cover. It was entertaining, and I learned so much more about American History during the WWII era than I had been taught in my 13 years of public school. For instance, did you know Voltswagen was founded by Hitler? All in all, this book is well worth the money!

'Welcome to Molly's World' is an engaging overview of the Forties, with an emphasis on the war years. It is of course tied to the American Girl world, which includes dolls, books, toys, etc. The Molly books by Valerie Tripp are the best place to start - this Molly's World book would make a nice followup for anyone who had read the books and wanted to learn more.

The style of this book is particularly cool. Lots of pictures, coupled with a paragraph or two about the photo and how it was an important piece of the puzzle. You can go through the book in a casual way that is not heavy and taxing to the brain. Just great.

I really don't think the books are just for girls, either. Although they tend to emphasize the perspective of the girl around whom the story is written, anyone would find it all interesting if they had a curious mind. And this book in particular is broad enough in scope that it could appeal to boys and girls.

Another target audience is the grandmother who lived through those years as a girl or a young woman. This would make a lovely gift, and could bring multiple generations together in the big chair.

Highly recommended !

Culled from the diaries, letters, advertisements, newsreels & newspapers of those years, you will read what it was like growing up in the 1940s in a world at war & what the family & the nation did to ensure there was enough to eat & enough to fight with.

I was a little girl "over there" during these years, so I picked up this bright history book with a certain degree of remembrances of things past.

This is an interesting way of looking at history - from a girl's point of view of how a world war affected her childhood. While Molly is a fictional character, there are enough women still alive who can attest to the veracity of Molly's experiences because the places & the times of her story are real.

One glaring omission is any reference to the daughters of Japanese-American families incarcerated in camps in the wilds of the American West for the duration.

Molly's World of 1944 is filled with nostalgic icons & while it contains magazine-like sidebars, photos & articles on everything from clothes to factory work to dogs to changing from war time to peace, it is couched in bland, politically correct language.

Notwithstanding the squeaky-cleanliness & disturbingly superficial information, this is a worthy bridge to a time that was. A way to connect today's girls with their grandmothers' girlhood.

Molly is my favorite character in the American Girls Series, however I was a bit disappointed in the non-fiction addition to the series. Welcome to Molly's World has a wonderful layout, and I did learn a bit from people living in the 1940's, however the book is very heavy on WWII...maybe a little too much. Although the 1940's were influenced by WWII, that is not all that is indictative of the decade. Therefore, I give this book about 3 stars, because I think the book had WWII overload and not much else.