History is an important part of education and teaching it in a fun and engaging way is very important to me. When I was offered three titles from Sterling Children’s Books, I was excited to introduce my kids to new books to broaden their learning. February is Black History Month and would be the perfect time to introduce two of these history-rich books to your children.
What Was Your Dream, Dr. King? And Other Questions About...Martin Luther King Jr. features popular questions along with answers for children. This book by Mary Kay Carson does a great job of teaching kids about Martin Luther King Jr. with answers to questions such as "Why did more than 250,000 people march in Washington DC?" or "Has MLK’s 'dream' come true yet?". The pictures in this book are also very appealing and resemble real photos more than cartoon drawings. We read this book on Martin Luther King Jr. day and I was very pleased with the amount of information it gave my children.
Why Did the Whole World Go to War? And Other Questions About...World War II by Martin W. Sandler gives children kid-friendly answers to difficult questions about Nazi Germany, Hitler, and World War II. It touches on the takeover of Germany, Pearl Harbor, various battles, Anne Frank, the end of the war, and more. World War II can be a scary topic for children and I was impressed by how this book conveyed how serious the war was without striking unnecessary fear into them.
And finally, in time for Black History Month, is the newly published Poetry for Young People: African American Poetry. These beautiful poems are written by such influential authors as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Lucille Clifton, and more. Each touching and memorable poem features a short introduction to the author’s history before reading their work and then has definitions of some harder or uncommon words at the bottom of the page. For my children, this was their first introduction to some of these authors and I loved getting the chance to share such an important part of our literary history with them.
Each of these books can be purchased online at www.sterlingpublishing.com, Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble.
Thank you to Sterling Publishing for providing complimentary product samples for us to base this review upon. All opinions expressed are my own.
