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Rating: 
Summary: Great for kids and adults
Review: I orginally purchased this book for my 8 year-old niece who is becoming interested in American history. After flipping through the book and being drawn in by the illustrations and their witty captions, I sat down and read the whole thing myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and learned quite a bit about St. Louis to boot, including surprises such as the fact that the first Olympic Games to be held in America were at the St. Louis World's Fair. The author does an excellent job of not only bringing the fair to life, but puts it in the proper context of St. Louis and America. Indeed, one can almost smell the ice cream cones and hot dogs, two of the foods said to have been invented there. Nor does he ignore some of the less savory aspects of the Fair, such as the forced confinement of Filipinos in their semi-permanent exhibit under miserable conditions. All told, this was a wonderful book, which my niece very much enjoyed as well, after I finally coughed it up!
Rating:
Summary: Brief, focused look at the fair
Review: This book presents a good overview of how the fair came to St.Louis, the preparations for it, major ingredientes and what happened after that.This is an excellent choice if you are looking for a feel of the fair and the world at that time. The book starts with how the world was at that time and how the preparations for the fair took place and ends with a narration of what happened to the buildings (and the Ferris wheel) after the fair. It was interesting to read that the fair itself was forgotten until the 1944 film, "Meet Me in St.Louis". This answered a lot of questions that I had about the fair. If you are looking for a detailed view of the fair, I would recommend "Inside The World's Fair of 1904 - Volume 1 and 2" by Elana V. Fox.
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