Customer Reviews

World War II (First Books--America at War)

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

 

 

If this "First Book" is by any chance the actual first book your child reads about WWII they are lucky indeed. It is an excellent starting point and reference book for young readers and writers of school reports and essays. The graphics are outstanding. The energetic, bright colors on the first several maps will hold a child's attention while they are busy trying to sort out the situations they represent. In addition the sepia tone of the photographs make it easier to read the captions which lets face it, are what most children are going to read first.

It is clear from reading the captions that the author has taken this into consideration because they are intriguing and encourage the reader to dig deeper. For example on page 39 at the beginning of chapter five, the author writes as a caption "Despite the genius of its commander, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the Axis army in North Africa was overwhelmed by American and British forces that closed around it in the early months of 1943". What self respecting 10 year old is going to be able to resist reading that chapter to find out why the author refers to Rommel as a genius? This author clearly knows how to reach kids and pull them into a subject that he is clearly enthusiastic about himself.

My only criticisms are as follows. First, I wish the publisher could have made the book just slightly longer to include as much about the history of the conflict in Asia as it devotes to the history of the conflict in Europe. Second, this book is an engaging mini text book (which is a brilliant idea) and as such it would be nice if it contained a glossary (preferably with short definitions on the page where the words are found) and a time line. What would be absolutely delightful would be for the publisher to hire the author to write a companion book which would contain biographies and some thought provoking questions, commentaries and quotes.

The reason I mention it is because I run an American Studies program for American children growing up overseas and this book is exactly what we need for three reasons. It is well written, it is short (which translates into being light for shipping), and it is so inexpensive we decided to purchase a copy for each child in our class so they could keep it forever. Bravo First Books!

This book is surprisingly well written. It presents a chronologic account of the war including a brief overview of the facts leading up to Hitler's rise to power. The narrative is compelling enough to keep both kids and parents interested. All of the picture complement the text without being too gory. My son is seven and a history buff. This text is geared at the 9-12 year old audience, but absolutely appropriate for younger kids. Most of the books geared at 6-8 year olds just don't contain enough information to keep him interested. The maps are also well presented. My only recommendation would be to include a world map at the beginning of the book to help kids gain a little perspective on where everything is taking pace in relation to America. I would definitely buy more books from this series.

I bought this book for my 12 year old nephew whose only prior acquaintance with WWII was through the CAll of Duty video games. While not a great reader he read and enjoyed this book. Worth the price for me!

the amazon mentions this product as the "first book".if it mentions the same as "for children".the buyers will not mistake the same as a book meant for the elders.the book is promptly returned by me.while refunding,the amazon deducted the shipping charges.