Coming to America: The Story of Immigration

This courageous, and honest effort by Ms. Maestro was a wonderful discovery! An even-handed and truthful presentation of the story of immigration, involuntary migration, and injustice visited upon indigenous peoples: this book surprised me, especially for one whose audience is the younger set of children. Kudos to Ms. Maestro, her editor(s), and publishing house for bravely putting out this book. From the first acknowledgement of those persons who crossed the Bering Strait and came to what came to be called the North American continent, the book challenges one's assumptions re: how this (hi)story happened. It is beautifully illustrated and a quick read. Pay close attention to the end notes and other miscellany after the primary text. show more More treats/surprises are in store. Well worth the short sojourn! show less

This book features a kid friendly version of how America came to be the diverse country it is today. The book starts with introducing the first people to live in the United States; the Native Americans. Then, came the European explorers who came searching for land and riches to take back to their country. Later, the European settlers came looking for a new home to escape some of the troubles that were taking place in Europe. By the 1700’s, there were many European settlers invading the United States which caused a lot of fighting between them and the Native Americans over resources such as food, materials, and land. Beginning in 1619, people were being brought from Africa to the United States to work as slaves. By 1820, the US show more government decided there needed to be a way in which they could keep track of who was entering the country, so they built Ellis Island. Thousands of people arrived to Ellis Island from other countries until it was closed in 1954 due to new immigration laws limiting the number of people entering the country. I think this book is great to read especially in the times we are currently living in. With immigration being such a talked about subject, it is easy for children to hear and misunderstand a lot of information. This book approaches immigration using facts that are easy for children to understand. The book starts with the earliest immigrators that many children may find surprising look a lot like them and their family members. These people came from Europe and the Africa which may come as a surprise to many young children because they are used to hearing the word immigrants refer to people from Hispanic descent. The books message is the importance of all immigrators because it is them who contributed and helped form the beautiful country filled with many unique people. show less

Coming to America: The Story of Immigration was a great book. This book gave specific precise details on the different historical events that led up to the opening of Ellis Island and when Ellis Island closed down. It gave the story of how difficult life was for immigrants and what immigrants had to go through to come to the United States and even once they got here. I did not know much about Ellis Island before I read this book so I found this book very interesting. I like how they told historical facts and talked about real people on the journey. I would use this book in my classroom to explain to children how immigration was back then and the process people had to go through in order to come to America. I would also teach them about show more each person talked about in the book to give them a better understanding of who they were and why they are so important. show less

This book is a wonderful story- especially on Christopher Columbus day. This book discredits Columbus and explains how he harmed indigenous people. Along with this, it also explains how we are all immigrants in American so therefore we must not be hypocritical of others who are coming her to escape war and hardships. This is a great progressive read aloud for older students.

I would use this in my classroom as a read-aloud to late primary and intermediate education.

This book is a detailed and historical outlook of American immigration. It starts from the first immigrants to America to how immigration was happening when this book was written. It demonstrates the beauty, reasonings, and causes of immigration - the good and the bad. At the end, it describes immigration as a celebration of coming together with our differences and uniqueness!

I would read this aloud in my classroom, and have children share where they come from if they're willing. I could make an activity where they use illustrations of what they know or remember when they were born or little. Both children born in America and outside America show more have a story to tell. show less

I really loved this book! I think it would be such a great thing to add to a social studies lesson. It goes from the very beginning of the American continent up to now. I also loved it because it is so important for people to celebrate their heritage and know where they came from and this book could be the beginning to so many social studies projects for students to do on their backgrounds. I will definitely use this book in the future!

This book covers the history of immigration from nomadic settlers to refugees. It teaches about Ellis Island and how immigrants would arrive by boat and go through a screening process. It goes on to talk about how most immigrants now arrive through the airport. The book talks a little about refugees that come here seeking safety. With every thing going on in this country currently I think this book would be a great tool to teach children about immigration and why some people feel that coming here illegally is their only option. It reads like a text book but is very informative. "All Americans are related to immigrants or are immigrants themselves." This is a fact that is so important and I think some Americans seem to forget. It was show more written in 1996 but I think it would be interesting to see what it would have to say if it included what was going on in America with the current administration. show less