US History & State Information -- Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Ever since Hazel tied for third in the school Geography Bee last year, she has been even more interested in learning about the world and especially the other states. I also want her to know about her own country just like we look at different countries and cultures. Luckily her class is studying the states this year, but I also found some great resources to supplement her class lessons. I also have to include a bit of history and other fun.

Let's start with a book with some US history. It is I Am George Washington by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos. It is one of the newest books in the Ordinary People Change the World Series.

Now Hazel LOVES this series. These are among her favorite books and as soon as we got I Am George Washington she was reading it to my family over the phone. She couldn't wait to read it. She always pulls these books out to read and re-read. Like all the books in the series, the story goes through George Washington's life and tells facts about him in a fun way. It is a wonderful story about our first president. The illustrations are similar to the other books in this series. I love this series because it makes Hazel interested in learning about real people who we might not always discuss. This book is a great addition to the amazing people covered by the series.

To learn about each of the states we looked at The 50 States by Gabrielle Balkan. This book has a double page spread on each of the states. It is full of information about the state from general information: capital, largest cities, state flower, etc. as well as famous people from the state, history of the state and more.

The pictures are illustrations and the entire book is fun and colorful. Even the contents is a colorful map.

This book is perfect to learn a bit about the fifty states! In the same series there is also The 50 States Fun Facts Book also by Gabrielle Balkan.

This book has a puzzle in the back!! Underneath the puzzle pieces the states have their names on them.

Instead of going state by state this book chooses topics and gives information about the thing of that topic for each state. This book has board pages. The topics are 50 Animals, 50 Things That Go, 50 Things to Eat, 50 Ways to Get Moving, and 50 Celebrations.

The facts are fun like did you know every May Colorado has Mike the Headless Chicken Festival or that Virginia celebrates Shakespeare's birthday? Some of the fun facts are about a town in the state and others include things state dogs, state insects and more. There are some crazy ideas in there.

The final book in this series is The 50 States Activity Book by Gabrielle Balkan and illustrated by Sol Linero. This book has various information and puzzles. Things like find all the winged animals or draw your state bird. There are all sorts of puzzles that include state animals, landmarks, houses and more.

The book also has a pull out poster. It has the presidents and state flags on one side and the map on the other.

This book gives fun ways to learn even more about each state and culture within the states. The combination of all three books in the series gives kids a lot about each state.

I also got a White House cookie kit from Trader Joe's this summer. We have not taken the time to put it together and decorate it yet, but soon we will. I figured it is another great addition to our look at our own country. I hope you will check out these great books about the United States and our first president!