States and Capitals: United We Stand! (Basher History Series)

by Simon Basher, Dan Green, Edward Widmer

Overview

Basher History: States and Capitals is the follow-up title to the bestselling Basher History: U.S. Presidents. This unique and comprehensive guide to 50 states (plus DC and the six territories) presents each state in the hip Basher fashion. Who better than Basher to give each state a face, voice, and personality and to give kids a fun, unusual but really information-packed gazetteer of their country. From Alabama to Wyoming, and everywhere in between, each state boasts about why it is special, dishes fun facts not found elsewhere, and waxes poetics about its motto, state bird, flag, state flower, and more! Find out how Connecticut got to be called the Provision State, why Georgia is nuts about nuts and why Illinois is called the Land of Lincoln.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780753471395
Publisher:	Kingfisher
Publication date:	07/15/2014
Series:	Basher History Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 6.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Artist and designer Simon Basher has fun playing in the world of contemporary character design. Inspired by a love of simple line work and a rich color palette, his characters fill the gap between edgy manga and the cuteness of Hello Kitty. He lives in England.

Dan Green is a freelance science writer and editor who consulted on Basher's previous book for Kingfisher, The Periodic Table.

Editorial Reviews

2014-05-28
Sprouting bodies and grins, the states introduce themselves alphabetically in this Basher History gallery.Following the series’ cast-in-stone design, each entry poses in a cartoon portrait with small emblems representing prominent physical features, industry, number of native U.S. presidents and other select distinctions. On opposite pages, a hearty self-description dominates: “Aloha! Come and hang ten with me, dude. I’m a bunch of chilled-out islands in the Pacific, but I have a fiery heart.” This is sandwiched between bulleted lists of superficial facts, from state bird, flower and nickname to (for Arkansas) “Known for diverse landscape, extreme weather, and Walmart.” U.S. territories bring up the rear, followed by a table of official state mottos and, glued to the rear cover, a foldout map. Along with out-and-out errors (a mistranslation of “e pluribus unum”) and unqualified claims (Boston built the first subway), Green offers confusing or opaque views on the origins of “Hawkeye,” “Sooners,” some state names and which of two “Mississippi Deltas” was the birthplace of the blues. Furthermore, a reference to “sacred hunting grounds” in West Virginia and Kentucky’s claim that “It wasn’t until pioneer Daniel Boone breached the Cumberland Gap…that my verdant pastures were colonized” are, at best, ingenuous.Chatty, formulaic, superficial—and dispensable, as the content is neither reliable nor systematic. (index, glossary). (Nonfiction. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews