The Discovery of the Americas: From Prehistory Through the Age of Columbus…

I read this aloud to my children in one sitting. It's a lovely, succinct overview of the many voyages people have taken to North and South America throughout the ages. I like how the Maestros put the journeys in perspective by including prehistoric travels from Asia to North America. This was a great addition to my daughter's history lesson about the voyages of discovery of the 15th and 16th centuries. ( )

A history of North America from land bridge theory to Magellan's trip around the world. Presented in a large picture book format the text is appropriate for ages 6 and up. The illustrations are vivid, bright, detailed and interesting. Maps help visualize all exploration routes. My son enjoyed the book very much and certainly retained the information. I found it an enjoyable book to read aloud and thought the narrative text was interesting. The only problems I had was that the land bridge theory was presented as fact rather than theory. As a Christian, I was content with the prehistory portions and simply substituted the words many years for exaggerated thousands of years. One page talked about the brutal, mean Christians and can easily be skipped and I found no anti-Catholicism. Overall, an enjoyable book to learn about the early explorers. ( )