Thomas Streissguth

I've studied the Loch Ness Monster for years, read countless books, and this is among the best of them. Surprisingly unbiased, this book presents a whole bunch of facts about Nessi sightings, historical documentations, other explanations, known hoaxes, etc... This book is, very simply, one of the most informational books I've ever read on this topic.

Neil Armstrong by Thomas Streissguth is a nice, little biography about the first man to walk the moon. The book is short and to the point, providing information about Armstrong's life. The first page gives a quick overview of Armstrong and notes that he was the first man to walk on the moon. Each page thereafter is a different topic of Armstrong's life in sequential order. The layout follows a large photograph on the left page, with a title and short paragraph about that topic on the right show more page. At the bottom of each right-sided page is a bold print word with definition to give the child reader better understanding. The topics included Learning to Fly, Wartime Service, Test Pilot, NASA, Apollo 11, Apollo Team, Life After Apollo, and One Giant Leap. The book also includes a timeline of Armstrong's life at the end of the book, with a short glossary (not including words defined within the text), and a page with places to look for more information. The only inaccurate information in the book was “Life After Apollo” where the author talks about where Armstrong is now. I knew Armstrong had passed away recently, so we used the internet to check and see if he was in fact still on his farm in Ohio.
I read this book to my kindergarten boys after reading a great picture book titled, One Giant Leap: Neil Armstrong by Don Brown. I knew Streissguth’s book was not as exciting or enticing as Brown’s, so I created a challenge for the boys as I read. I grouped the boys in pairs, giving each set a green flag and a red flag. After each page the pair would decide if the information I read was in the Brown’s as well, or if it was new information. The student would hold up the green flag for repeated information, and the red flag for new information. This was a great informal assessment for me, and an easy way for us to compare and contrast two books about the same topic. It also kept the boys engaged and focused during this read aloud. show less

There are always many conflicting stories and the facts at Wounded Knee and we will never be known for certain until we learn to time travel, this is one compilation. The author does not choose to give you much choice in conflicting facts, but to me seems to cover the sequence of events leading up to and including, in a very organized, mostly clear and concise manner. I have read many other publications on this, this one kept my attention, seemed amazingly complete in a short book and I show more learned much and hopefully understand more a muti-sided issue. show less

Certainly a timely title, unfortunately this book's message will likely be lost to it's outdated format. It looks like a 20+ year-old biography, complete with black and white photos and chapters that are 15-20 pages in length. The writing style includes interesting facts, but much also reads like a timeline. I often wished it would "get to the good part" as in, how did these experiences lead to the moniker "demagogue"? The information is too valuable to waste and too interesting to be show more presented in boring manner. I would like to see a revised version that engages more readers. Perhaps some color, or subheadings, or even timelines to replace the less engaging narrative points. show less