Wonders of the USA

Shine-a-Light Books

by Carron Brown, Bee Johnson (Illustrator)

In Wonders of the USA, readers explore caves and rivers, visit national parks and view historic buildings.

Shine a flashlight behind the page or hold it to the light to reveal what is hidden in and around our country. Discover a land of great surprises.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Nonfiction, Geography

36 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2017

Reviews

[Melena Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second informational book I read this week was Wonders of the USA by Carron Brown. This book is about the wonders of the USA from a child's perspective. For example, the wonders mentioned in the book are Mt Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, Mardi Gras, NASA Mission Control Center, the Golden Gate Bridge, Grand Canyon, Mt Denali, the Everglades in Florida, Carlsbad caver in New Mexico, grand prismatic spring (Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming), Hawaii, the bald eagle, and the American flag. This book has many maps in it and provides a glossary at the back of the book with the wonders mentioned. I gave this book four stars because I liked how it covered all over the USA and because the material was presented in a child-friendly and underwhelming way.

I would use this book in the early elementary grades because of the easier concepts such as explaining where these wonders are in the USA and why we have these places and what these things mean to our country. An activity I would do with younger students and with this book is having the students create their own list of wonders in our community (or town/city depending on the location). The students can brainstorm together and once the list is made, we can come together as a whole class and discuss (and ask questions) the wonders of our community. I can provide as much research and details as I know about the wonders discussed however if I do not know then we will do some research to find out about our community.

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Wonders of the USA" by Carron Brown is a delightful nonfiction text about the inner workings of the United States of America. This book is the most perfect example of an interactive read aloud. The story itself is hardly a story at all, but rather walks the reader through different landmarks and interesting places within the US. The pages correspond from front to back. The colorful pages are backed with a black page that contains the same design as the colorful page, only in white outlines. When the reader holds a light to the black pages, there are hidden illustrations that come to life through the colorful page. The illustrations, for lack of a better term, are reminiscent of clip art. This is not meant negatively! They are captivating and do plenty to catch the readers attention when reading the words on the page. The illustrations are meant to be more minimalist because the reader's attention will be focused more on shining a light through the pages. Also if there were tons of details, the hidden images would not come through as well. Needless to say, the illustrations were done with purpose! In conclusion, this book has a place in my classroom collection, as well as my personal collection. I've already purchased my copy!

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE the shine-a-light books. My kids LOVE shine-a-light books. These are so fun. Who doesn't like using a flashlight to read a book?! These are also educational, so it's a win from a parents' perspective also. This particular book is about the wonders of the USA.

The book begins with a map of the USA. Then as you go through the book, you learn a little bit about specific "wonders" of the USA, such as the Grand Canyon, the Everglades, Mount Rushmore, the Statue of Liberty, etc. Each time we hit a new state, I flipped back to the map to show my girls where each state was.

My girls enjoyed predicting what they thought was "hiding" in the picture before we shone a light on the page to see it.

I highly recommend the Shine-a-Light series. We have a few of them, and we enjoy all of them. Another favorite of ours is Secrets of the Garden.

[Lauren]

his book is the most perfect example of an interactive read-aloud. The story itself walks the readers through different landmarks and interesting places. I would say this would be more of a second or third grader book from a lesson standpoint. It is kind of longer. The illustrations in this book are fantastic, the shine a light is a great way to keep the students engaged in the material.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d say this book is more visually exciting than textually informative, but it’s still a great book. There is some info, just not as much as I expected.

[DeNae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun concept and teaching tool. My 5 year old loves it.

[MARY Brazeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun!

[Ashley Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are such good books! My kids are enjoying reading with flashlights!

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating, shine-a-light book.
This book gives facts about Yellowstone, Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty and so many other fascinating places in the United States of America.

[Robert Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a creative, quick, good night book.

[Nancy Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

-10-12-20
-*****
-11-23-20
- This book is amazing, my students loved the book! I love how interactive and engaging the book is! You will need a flashlight! It would be good to use while studying the symbols of the US!

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the variety of magnificent places from around the United States that are included in this book. The extra facts at the back are neat too. I also had fun playing with the illuminate pages. I am looking forward to adding this to my classroom collection next year

[Edison · Rating 5 out of 5]

New Mexico!