Books provided for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.
Attention all fans of the Peanuts gang. Charles M. Schulz has just released a trio of books that help children learn about important figures in American history.
The books each have a story involving the characters we all know and love, and a little bit of information about different figures in American history are woven into the stories (sometimes in a very seamless way, and sometimes it’s a bit clunky, though to be fair, it’s hard to work all that info into a short story!).
At the back of the book, more detailed information on the 5 figures is highlighted so that kids can get a clearer picture of that individual’s importance in history.
Of the 3 sets of books, the one I personally like the best is the Great Heroes book, because of the diversity of individuals highlighted. As a mom of girls, and as a woman, myself, I’m sensitive to opportunities to include women and their accomplishments, and I was pleased to see 3 of the 5 people profiled in this edition to be women who achieved great things (Rosa Parks, Clara Barton and Susan B. Anthony). In contrast, I was a bit put off by the Great Inventors book, as only 1 woman was profiled, and that woman invented the chocolate chip cookie. Now, let me be VERY clear…this invention was a gift to the entire world, to be sure. But the inventor of the cookie was a woman, and the inventions produced by men included the airplane, the telephone, the automobile and the light bulb. Seemed a little lopsided, in my opinion, and like an all-around poor choice for the one female inventor’s work to stem from the kitchen.
Still, it’s a nice set of books for any child who is starting to get into history, as the Peanuts gang helps introduce some pretty cool new characters in a way that is easy to understand.
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