Ford, Carin. Overview of the American Civil War Through Primary Sources.

Ford, Carin.  Overview of the American Civil War Through Primary Sources.  Enslow 2013  48p   $18.00  ISBN 978-0-7660-4124-0 elm/ms  series: Civil War Through Primary Sources  VG

“Introduces the American Civil War, including the causes of the conflict, background on the Union and the Confederacy, the major battles and important historical figures, and how the Union won the war.”  Upper-elementary and middle-school students who enjoy reading about history will appreciate this new title on the American Civil War.  Students will gain a better understanding of this important war through the use of primary sources, including portrait photographs, artwork, maps, illustrations, and personal quotations.  The author provided a great number of details on the causes of the war, information on the Union and the Confederacy, the various battles, key historical figures, and how the war was won by the Union.  Written in a story-like manner, the book conveys knowledge while also presenting a great many primary sources to help students feel more connected to what really happened so long ago. 

The author includes colorful graphics, a timeline of events, maps, artwork, portrait reprints, personal quotations, chapter notes, a glossary of terms, a list of books and Internet addresses, and an index.   Through the use of primary sources, each title in this series of six (as of this review) helps students understand the story of the war that reunited the Union and ended slavery forever.   

Civil War-Primary Sources                             --Charleen Forba-Mayer

Micklos, John, Jr. Making of the U.S. from Thirteen Colonies.

Micklos, John, Jr.  Making of the U.S. from Thirteen Colonies.    Enslow  2013  48p  $18.00  ISBN 978-0-7660-4133-2      elm/ms  series: American Revolution Through Primary Sources VG   

In this book, upper-elementary and middle-school students are introduced to Great Britain’s thirteen colonies and how they stretched from Massachusetts to Georgia.  Students learn that sometimes these colonies got along, and at other times they did not.  While the thirteen colonies had differences among themselves, they were all a part of the British Empire.  Students discover how early governments worked, as well as what led to the British and American colonists’ battles, which ultimately led to the American Revolution.  Written in a story format, this book provides students with a better understanding of how the United States won its independence.  Within each individual state, Americans did not initially want any central government, but because they endured hard times, the states knew that they must come up with something central to help fix their problems.  The Constitutional Convention, the Great Compromise, and the Bill of Rights were then in play as the states tried to build a more perfect union.  The Electoral College was created to select the president with each state represented fairly. 

Students gain a great deal of knowledge through the primary-source documents that are included to help them gain a better understanding of the American Revolution and the creation of the United States.  The author includes colorful graphics, a timeline of events, dates of ratification, maps, proof sheets, portrait reprints, documents, chapter notes, a glossary of terms, a list of books and Internet addresses, and an index.      Each title in this series of six (as of this review) presents personal accounts of American men and women in battle and on the home front.  These titles contain songs, speeches, poetry, newspaper accounts, and photos that reflect the broader culture of the time.

American Revolution                                   --Charleen Forba-Mayer

Micklos, John, Jr. Washington’s Crossing the Delaware and the Winter at Valley Forge Through Primary Sources.

Micklos, John, Jr.  Washington’s Crossing the Delaware and the Winter at Valley Forge Through Primary Sources.  Enslow  2013      48p   $30.60  ISBN 978-0-7660-4132-5  elm/ms  series: American Revolution Through Primary Sources     VG-BNS

Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River and the winter at Valley Forge with his men are described, along with examples of primary and secondary sources of information in the illustrations that are scattered through the book.  The writing is good, the layout is attractive, and the book includes an easy-to-follow timeline, a glossary, chapter notes, a list of books and internet addresses for further reading, and an index. The goal of the series, which is, in addition to teaching the kids some history, to teach them to discern the difference between primary and secondary sources, should have been discussed more overtly in a forword of some sort.  Instead, the book relies on a teacher discussing this prior to looking at the book with the students.  Illustrations of primary-source materials are marked with a special designation, and those that depict secondary sources are not.  Some of the reproduction of the primary-source materials could have been sharper, as is the case with the July 1775 document commissioning George Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.  However, in a book of this size, perhaps this was the best that could be done in terms of the image.    The American Revolution Through Primary Sources is a subset of the Primary Sources series by Enslow.  Others in this subset cover American Indians and African Americans, women and children, how the 13 colonies became the US, and how the revolution was won.  

American Revolution                                               --Carol Kennedy

Silvey, Anita. The Plant Hunters.

Silvey, Anita.  The Plant Hunters.    Macmillan/Farrar Strauss    88p  $19.99 978-0-374-30908-4       elem/ms           VG           

Plant collection is not the innocuous occupation that many of us consider it to be, and this book illustrates this with a variety of botanical adventures ranging from ancient Egypt to present day India, emphasizing the 19th and 20th centuries.     

Primary sources provide the basis for this well-documented collection of tales of adventurers and scientific exploration that revolve around the acquisition of unique and valuable plants.  These adventures happen all over the world, and the reader learns not just about the plant collector and the plants, but also about the regions of the world they explore, as well as all of the tedium and organization involved in the process of exploration.  

The illustrations in the book are also primary sources for the most part, and include historical photographs, lithographs, and prints, such as the photograph of Ernest H. Wilson with "reformed headhunters and armed policemen" (page 29), and "Kangchenjunga from Singtam", a lithograph from the 1850s (page 38).  The book concludes with a timeline, an author's note, notes, a bibliography and an index.             --Lynn Fisher