Acceptable book for kids about Indian captives
358773
Somewhat realistic story of boy captives during 1860's.  I was looking for a book about child captives of the Indians, and most of them were too graphic for children's eyes.  This one is acceptable, and based on a true story, but I wonder, too, if some of the harsh treatment was simply omitted.  It does include such activities that whites might frown upon, such as boys shooting arrows at the white kid (while he only had a piece of leather to protect him) in order to "teach" him to dodge arrows, and loosely strapping the other white boy to a bucking pony to "teach" him to ride.  I was disappointed in the conversation in the book, as some of the dialogue was obviously meant to teach children facts about life back then, and sometimes seems out of place and pretty elementary.  But, as children's books about Indian captives are few and far between, I appreciated the book
1939008
The girls loved the book my son not so much. But I thought it was a pretty good read for them. It was an adventure tale with some good illustrations. We've read it a few times over which is usually a good sign. I wish it would have held my son's attention more but all in all good.
3418982
There are newer versions of this title that omit the casually racist comments. I believe this is one of them, though it was a gift for my granddaughter who thinks camping is normal, not houses.  A good book for young adventurers, though they will need adult supervision with several of the projects because the tools and woods may not be handy to a modern back yard.
4552814
I bought this because it was recommended as extra reading in our home school history course on the Middle Ages. It's not a bad story (kind of funny and goofy), but it has about zero historical value. It's a fine book for a kid 7-9 or so, but for a book along similar lines, I'd recommend "The Door in the Wall." It wasn't written to be funny like "Jeffrey Strangeways" was, but it gave us a much better feel for life in England in the Middle Ages, especially the language. So, "Jeffrey Strangeways" is not bad, but it's by no means a history book.
1838593
Kids will like that the book is about Olaf.  The content isn't superb, but I understand the author is trying to use simple words for kids to read this independently.
4075483
The text of this book is not aimed at small children, it is Wikipedia level text and the content is suited to those kids who have comprehensive level at Wiki text level. The photos are collected from various sites on internet without attribution, probably public domain photos. The book covers the history of bears, anatomy, senses, diet, behavior, hibernation, their cubs, black bears (American and Asian), brown bears, giant panda, polar ear, sloth bear, spectacled bear, sun bear, bears and myths, bears attacking humans.

This book about bears is part of the "amazing facts" series written by different authors that follow the same formula: stock photos and description from Wikipedia about the given topic.  This book has smaller pictures and longer descriptions compared to similar books of this style.  The style of the book is not original, but information is ok. I liked the larger amount of text as it was more educational, but it also raised the target rate of the children for whom this book would be the best match.

Ali Julia review
2655959
"Children of the Tipi" is a children's nonfiction book about native American tribes who lived on the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains at "the time of the buffalo." The pages are full of sepia photographs taken of these tribes during that time period. There are also some full color photographs of clothing, everyday items, and weapons as well as a map showing the locations of the various plains and Rocky Mountain tribes. However, some of the people quoted in the book are from tribes not shown on the map.

The text consisted of short quotes from men and women from a wide variety of tribes who were born before 1904. About 10 of the 36 pages focused on how the children were raised and their daily life (their play, interactions with older people, how they were named, story time,  etc.). The rest of the book was about daily life in general for adults and children (moving camp, women's work, men's work, spiritual beliefs and rituals, jewelry, weaving, etc.).

I found the quotes containing childhood memories very interesting. There were also quotes about the beliefs and customs of various tribes and some tribal proverbs.

Overall, I found this book interesting, especially the photographs. It's too bad that the photographs weren't captioned with information about which tribe was pictured or where they were. Also, the book didn't give a lot of information about daily life and didn't focus on specific tribes, so keep in mind that this is more of a "coffee table book" than a history book.

I'm not sure how interesting a young child who isn't Native American would find this book. Back when I was a tween, I liked to read history or "other culture" nonfiction, but I was more interested in the day-to-day activities than in quotes about how moral their people were. So I'm not precisely sure who I'd recommend this book to.

I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.
2125501
Because this book was written a long time ago there is a lot of stereo-typing of Native Americans which you would not expect in a modern children's book. It's a shame because some aspects of the story are so cute.
4264917
A very good old book about a white boy kidnapped by Indians, growing up with them, and later escaping and going home.
2197196
As a Native American man enrolled in the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska, I feel obliged to respond to various reviews regarding this book.  First of all, for the most part, I enjoyed this book.  It is a fine story intended primarily for American children.  However, it is simply that:  a child's story.  It is indeed unfortunate that there is such a short description of "the Indians;" I suspect that this is only because of the author's purpose of writing an exciting story set in the early years of the American experiment.  While the story is lacking in its description of the Native American characters, this story does present the opportunity to begin a conversation about Native Americans and their role within American history, stereotypes of Native Americans and the ongoing need to address ongoing racism that continues from the legacy of the fearful perspective of such characters as the young and noble Edward.

I have found the reviews of some readers disheartening.  To deny the atrocities against Native Americans by the US government and other institutions (e.g., the Church, school system, etc.) only continues to hurt Native Americans who must live with the ongoing results of those atrocities in the shadow of a society which has unfairly benefitted from the oppression of a group of peoples.  Furthermore, such denial of privilege is detrimental to American society and the freedom of all Americans.
2184965
After reading this story, it became clear to me why this story was not well known prior to this book.  The story is okay.  It is not remarkable or really notable.  In terms of being a story about survival, it is weak.  If you are looking for a story about survival, this is not the book for you.  On the other hand, the anthropological view that this book creates is fascinating.  The book is almost a parallel to what would happen if aliens arrived on earth and our perception of those aliens.  Overall the book is okay.
4337012
This book gives a brief story of the life of Ignatius of Antioch. Though brief, it is good and well-illustrated. However, I am not totally convinced that the story content and reading level go well together. Particularly, it is a rather short and easy-to-read book, and with the number of illustrations it comes across almost more as a picture book than a real biography. At the same time, the emotional content is fairly advanced -- we learn about how he went knowingly to his death, what advice he gave other Christians, and so on.

To be more specific, the book is brief enough that it is not divided into chapters, and can be read in its entirety by a distracted adult in perhaps 20 minutes. So from that perspective it would be good for a relatively younger reader who hasn't yet moved on to chapter books, or has barely done so. But at the same time, kids in this age group probably wouldn't yet grasp the import of the content. Kids who are ready for the content may find it too brief.

On the other hand, this may be a plus if you have kids who, while more advanced readers, may not like reading very much -- the brevity may be something they appreciate.

I have a seven and a five-year old, both of whom read almost constantly and are fairly advanced readers (the older reads chapter books up to a few hundred pages). She really liked it, she said, but finished it in a very short amount of time. I wouldn't be comfortable having the younger read it on her own yet - not because of difficulty (she's read far more advanced books) but because I'd want to help her understand what's going on - but if we can find the time I'll sit down and read it with her.

So, on the whole, a bit mixed -- I really like the idea, but I'm not sure the balance is right for the cost.
4179430
I used this book to elaborate on our study of Native Americans in a third  grade class.  My students commented that they enjoyed the perspective of  Chief Seattle and he made them feel like they were part of the story.  It  explains the struggle the Native Americans had with releasing their land  the white people. The illustrations were full of detail and looked very  real.  The story is easy for third graders to read independently.  The  students also feel this story would be a good bedtime story.
4039993
The simple illustrations are nice and the text is quite readable.  But...I am not at all sure I would want the kids reading this one on their own without discussion.  The little froggy is indeed a typical kid with typical kid reactions.  I found that be best use for this book was to discuss with the children just what it was the frog was doing and why it was so wrong and what some of the ramifications might be for his actions.  As an example, I use the tooth brushing battle as a way of explaining just what could happen to teeth that were not brushed properly.  All in all this was a okay book but the parent or teacher needs to monitor and discuss each situation.
1783041
I got this book from Speedy Publishing. This is part of their history series. It focuses on fifth grade level American history, and this particular book talks about the American presidents. Even though my kids are very young, they love books like this so I got it to read with them. The book begins with our current President, Barack Obama. The book did not really go into too much detail on each president, but I guess that would have been difficult to condense into a short book for fifth graders. So, this book mainly just has the name of the president, what number president he was, the dates that he served, and one short fact about him. There are not as many pictures in this book as some other books by this publisher, but I think it is because pictures of all the presidents would not fit in the book. Some of the more famous presidents have a picture of themselves or a statue, such as Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, and Franklin Roosevelt. I did think it was pretty interesting that all of the older presidents  from the 1920s back to George Washington  had photographs of the man, but there were not photographs of recent presidents. That seemed kind of odd. Anyway, this is a great starter book for kids learning the order of the presidents as well as short little facts about them. I received this product at a discount in exchange for my honest review.
695258
This slender book is an easy read for elementary children, with its 8-year-old heroine who becomes the little lady of a rustic household, short sentence and many full-page illustrations in brown tones.  Sarah accompanies her father on a long journey from the Massachusetts colony down to the Connecticut frontier, to the site of a future town, New Milford, by the Great River.  The middle child of a large family she offers to cook and keep house for Mr. Noble, who must build a log cabin so that the rest of his family can join them before winter.

 Once Sarah has set up shop in a renovated cave her father and Tall John, a kind Indian, work on their future home.  Meanwhile Sarah meets several Indian children and gradually becomes comfortable with them. This Connecticut tribe proves amicable toward the white settlers, but where will Sarah stay when Father returns to Massachusetts for the rest of the family?  Besides their horse, Thomas, is needed to transport the younger children.  Sarah will be the only Noble in residence for a while, but where will she stay in safety?  Through these months of discovery Sarah constantly reminds herself to keep up her courage--since her mother is not there to do so.  She never wants to be parted from her red cloak--a source of comfort for her small body and tremulous heart. Sarah learns to look within for strength and comfort before her mother arrives. Excellent read for girls under 12.
2603239
A well-illustrated book that will bring the life of a slave to light for your child.