The American Story: 100 True Tales from American History

This is a collection of chronologically ordered tales, some of which are familiar and some are not so familiar. It starts off with the settlement of Saint Caroline and ends with the the 2000 Presidential election. The book spans four hundred years in its 100 tales. Most of the better known stories such as the Gettysburg Address, 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and D-Day are not included. Some of the stories included are Boston's Great Molasses Flood and Pac-Man Fever.

I really liked how this book was set up and the fact that the author included lesser known stories also. The illustrations were really great also!

For the classroom, I would have students each pick a story from the book. They would then research the story a little more and either write an essay, make a poster, or act the story out to the class. ( )

American Story: I think this book is huge! I havn't read all of it yet. But so far the history's great. ( )

The American Story is a collection of one hundred historical and legendary stories set in America and arranged chronologically. It is generously illustrated-with pictures at the turn of every page. The tone of the book is light, and provides children with a nice background in well-known and lesser known stories and biographies. Some are of more historical significance, such as the lost colony of Roanoke, the midnight ride of Paul Revere, the legend of John Henry and the speeches of Sojourner Truth. Others are more for fun, like the history of the potato chip.

Though published in 2006, it ends with the 2000 election and puts an optimistic light-hearted spin on the Supreme Court ruling not to recount the ballots. Like its treatment of the 2000 election debacle, the book avoids blatant political opinion throughout. It also omits scarier aspects of recent history such as the events of 9/11. Parents should be aware however, that some of the stories, such as the story of Lizzie Borden, are inappropriate for younger children. Overall, this is a book that would appeal to a wide age range of children. For homeschoolers, it would provide a nice supplement to your home library, as it’s a book you could repeatedly turn to over the years. ( )