Smart About the Fifty States: A Class Report

Smart About History series

by Jon Buller, Susan Saunders, Maryann Cocca-Leffler

The kids in Ms. Brandt's class create a special report on the United States of America, with each child doing research on ten states. There's a double-spread map of the whole U.S. and a page for every state jam-packed with trivia, interesting facts, handwritten captions, and jokes. At the end of the book is a map showing how the United States grew over time, a spread on the presidents and what states they hailed from, as well as a "bibliography" of books the kids used in their research. Written by a team of well-known author/artists, this 64-page Smart About History book is a great guide for kids.

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books, Geography, American History, Reference, History

64 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

Reviews

[Karin]

This book is a great resource for learning about the 50 states. Each state is one page & gives a brief description of the state with illustrations. At the end of the book they have a bibliography of books & websites they pulled info from which is great if your child wants to do more research about a particular state.

[Roshini R.]

What drew me to the book is the fact that it looks like a child wrote and illustrated it. It opens with a letter from the teacher to the students indicating that she is eager to see their group reports. Each state is covered, listing its nickname and capital. Each page shows the shape of the state along with facts about that state. The accompanying illustrations and bubbles with info are full of personality. At the very end, information is provided on the United States flag, how our country grew, our Presidents, and a bibliography listing the books used for the report. This is a wonderful inspiration for a class project in Social Studies and can be applied to other subjects when covering a similar theme.

[Amy]

This book is wonderful when teaching the students about states and the USA. It is a book of student's reports on each state. There is wonderful facts about each state and how the country came to be. It even has a list of presidents up to George Bush Jr.

[Sarah]

Yes, there are a ton of books out there about the fifty states. Most do a good job of presenting the facts in a child-friendly format. This is no exception but neither is it exceptional.

[Kesha]

I gained so many ideas for culminating projects for my students from this graphically attractive book.