Us Kids History : Book of the American Indians

Brown Paper School: US Kids History

by Howard Egger-Bovet, Marlene Smith-Baranzini

Offers insights into the day-to-day lives, customs, and beliefs of various North American Indian tribes before the arrival of the Europeans. Includes ideas for related activities.

Genres: History, Own

Hardcover

First published May 1, 1994

Reviews

[Isabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these books! This time 'round, I started at the end, with the Northeaster Indians, since those were the ones my daughter was learning about in school. From there, we went to the People of the Southwest, since she was also learning about the Pueblo. It was then that I realized the book is set up in reverse of how my daughter was learning about the Indians. The book goes from West to East, whereas we, as residents of Virginia start locally and move--well, all over with no real rhyme or reason.

Which made me wonder how this book was organized. It moves from West to East, basically from the oldest, longest lasting Indian groups to the East where the Europeans got their toe hold and altered the way of the Indians forever. Sure, there was a little Spanish influence, but the book seems to be set before that time. Well, hold on, that's not true, because the Plains Indians in the book had horses, which came from the Spanish.

Aww, I dunno. I thought the overall structure was great, though, and the finale hinted at the coming changes when a young Indian sees a large "canoe" in the distance.

The games the authors included were great, but the crafts all required help from a parent and some kind of cutting tool: saw, adze, whatever. So that kind of made it beyond the scope of an elementary school child to do independently, or a teacher to introduce in a classroom. Still, I love the descriptions, stories, photos and illustrations in this book. It really brings the cultures to life and offers a great foundation for further learning. It's an outstanding introduction to anthropology for kids. All inspiration and no intimidation.

[Abigail Hix · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book, especially to have in the classroom. It has stories about the Native Americans, as well as information about their customs and crafts to go along with the stories. This is a great book to have in the classroom because it is a great way to bring cultural diversity into the classroom.

[Manna_Sue]

When the kids are bit older.