Tuesday, July 24, 2007

33. America: A Patriotic Primer by Lynne Cheney


Nonfiction book annotation
By: Angela Wilcox

40 pages



Cheney, L. (2002). America: A patriotic primer. New York: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers.

Author Creditability: Lynne Cheney stated in her acknowledgments that she wanted to thank several of her research assistants. She had lots of help researching the material and developing this book. She thanked the American Enterprise Institute for their help. Mrs. Cheney has a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin and is currently a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Summary: This is an alphabet formatted book that Cheney wrote because she wanted her grandchildren to know how blessed we are to live in America. Each letter of the alphabet either deals with well-known individuals, milestones in our history, or terms of this nation. There are also facts, quotes from presidents and other patriots, and/or anecdotes on each page dealing with the given topic.

Most Important Access Features: This book takes a cartoon like appearance to it. There are several illustrations on a page with labels and information next to the illustration. In the back of the book is a section called “Notes on the Text” which includes a little more detailed information on each letter and the illustrations on the page. The front end pages are in red, the pages in the book are white, and the back end pages are blue representing our flag (The Red, White, and Blue).

Description of Illustrations: The illustrations were done by Robin Preiss Glasser and are made in black ink, watercolor washes, and colored pencils.

Grade Level & Uses: 2-5 grade; This book could be used to teach about America.

Standards: Time, Continuity, Change; Individuals, Groups, and Institutions; Culture

Related Texts & How Related: These books could be used along with America: A Patriotic Primer to discuss American history.

A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Women by Lynne Cheney
A Time for Freedom by Lynne Cheney
We the Kids by David Catrow
When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots by Lynne Cheney


Quality/Awards:
None found at this time.


Personal Response to Book: I liked the friendly cartoon like layout of this book. I enjoyed reading about our history from Lynne Cheney’s perspective. I believe this would be an excellent book to help little ones understand our country.

3 comments:

Jennifer said...

This is a book that I used with my students last year. My students could not tell me what country we live in. This book helped me to give a brief introduction so that we could further our study.

Allison Fielder said...

This book looks like it would be great to use with younger students to help them recognize national symbols and historical figures.

Unicolo said...

Thanks for this information.I agree with this.That the greatest amount of learning can occur.
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