If America Were a Village: A Book about the People of the United States

by David J. Smith, Shelagh Armstrong

Overview

This important book teaches children all about the large, diverse country of America - past, present and future - using a simple metaphor of a village of just 100 people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771386487
Publisher:	Kids Can Press
Publication date:	08/01/2009
Series:	CitizenKid Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	40 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

David J. Smith is a teacher and educational consultant with over 25 years of experience in the classroom and is the creator of the award-winning curriculum "Mapping the World by Heart." ;

Editorial Reviews

Smith and Armstrong follow up If the World Were a Village (2002) with a similarly eye-opening portrait of the United States as a "village" of 100 people (roughly one per 3,000,000). Paired to impressionistic street and crowd scenes viewed, generally, from a high angle, the simplified statistics encapsulate our ethnic origins, family structures, religions, energy use, occupations, health and wealth in easy-to-understand units: "82 people in our village speak English as their first language. 10 speak Spanish. 1 speaks Chinese, 1 French and 1 German." Using this methodology, the author tracks historical changes in many categories, shovels data into his narrative in different ways to stave off monotony, often lays out comparisons with other countries or the rest of the world and even offers occasional discussions of what the numbers signify or reveal. A solid source list lends authority to his rounded-off numbers. The premise isn't new, but it's never been used to better effect for deepening the understanding that children have about the 306 million (and counting) other people with whom they share this land. (Informational picture book. 8-10)

Kirkus Reviews

The premise isn’t new, but it’s never been used to better effect for deepening the understanding that children have about the 306 million (and counting) other people with whom they share this land.

A whole new way to think about our country.

From the Publisher

A whole new way to think about our country.

Booklist