The First Americans, Third Edition: Prehistory-1600 (A History of US, Book 1)

Rating:
Summary: This is a 10-volume storyteller's history.
Review: These books won the first James A. Michener Award and have been very well received. David H. Donald, Harvard and Pulitzer, "The best American history written for young people that I have ever seen." David McCullough, Pulitzer author, Joy Hakim's new series is a big breath of fresh air and the best-possible news for the youngsters who get to read them." L.A. Times, "The liveliest, most realistic, most well-received American history series ever written for children." Michael Dirda, Washington Post, "I couldn't put it down." NYTimes, "Ms. Hakim braids multiple narratives together to bring alive material long dead to children's imaginations."

Rating:
Summary: Making History Interesting for Any Person
Review: This book is the first in a series written by Joy Hakim that captures the essence of topics that can often be presented in a dull format, but which have been developed to capture the imagination and attention of anyone of any age who is capable of reading at a mid-elementary school level or higher. The chapters in each book are developed from the adventurer's viewpoint of being directly involved in the timeline of history as it evolves. The writing draws you in and the chapters are short enough to complete one topic at a time with very little time. Each chapter is enhanced with pictures, maps, and other small vignettes of additional information applicable to the narrative. There are questions and definitions to expand the chapters into a more involved learning experience. As a middle-aged adult who never was provided a cohesive learning experience on the subject of history, even as I lived through some of our most historical events, I find this series to be one of the best ways to connect to information I never knew or never fully understood as a sequence of events with historical and future impact. I highly recommend this series for anyone, but especially for parents and children to share together one small step at a time.