Who Were the First North Americans?

by Stuart Reid, Struan Reid

"What games did the Mayans enjoy?" "Why did Aztec warriors dress in animal costumes?" "What is a pow wow?" "Who were the first Americans?" is packed full of fun and facts which answer the first questions a child asks about American history. It invites the reader to travel a continent, discover its native people and read about the first Europeans to land on its shores. The text presents a wealth of information in a comprehensible form and accompanying artwork gives a simple introduction to history for children of six years old and upwards.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Childrens, Native Americans, American History, Native American

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 26, 1995

Reviews

[Ch_hayley Medsker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who Were the First North Americans by Philippa Wingate is one in the "Who Were..." series of informational books. This book provides an overview and an introduction to the Native American culture. The book contains chapters and headings like, "What were their houses like?" or "What did they do for fun?" Additionally, the unique layout will appeal to young readers. With brief informative paragraphs, many illustrations, labels, and fun fact boxes, at times this book almost seems like a comic. Children will definitley enjoy the humor inthis book as well. However, because the topic 'North Americans,' is so large, many facts seemed to be generalizations, leading to stereotypes. A history consultant was used to gather information for this book, so I can see where educators or anyone reading this book would trust the facts within it. This book may mislead young readers...if it's the only source they're using to learn about Native Americans. I read this to my second graders when learning about the first North Americans, but definitley supplemented it with other texts. Studying this unit, and finding quality texts that depict the North American culture can be a challenge. Yet, this text can be used to compare and contrast othe sources and information gathered. Either way, the students found the text interesting and loved the visuals. I will continue to read this book, and other rich texts that deepen knowledge of the first North Americans too.

[Maura Fenelon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This informational book about Native Americans is written in the form of question-and-answer, and gives a wide overview of several native cultures, answering questions in ways that apply to many native cultures and in ways that apply only to specific native cultures. This book is appropriate for a fourth through sixth grade classroom; while it is a picture book, it contains a lot of information and conveys some of that with some advanced vocabulary. It also deal briefly with the fate of Native cultures after settlement. I would use this book as the starting point of a unit about Native culture and in a history class as an introduction to the conflicts between Native Americans and Whites.

[Good · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mashes all tribes together with a subject for each page. Would be very confusing to a child. Also puts little tags on people in the pictures like “This boy is greedy” and “This man is lazy.”

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful pictures and information to help with KS2 new geography curriculum about The Americas.

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it. Love Usborne. Yayyyyy.