Emily McAuliffe

I used this book to introduce the social studies topic for the week which is a Louisiana overview. We were also introducing text structure, so I was able to use the captions, table of contents, index, and glossary in the book to introduce these concepts with my class as well. The book discussed different facts of Louisiana. Since the last edition came out in 2003, the population statistics given are not accurate. I was pleased with the way the author present the symbols and then gave a little bit of background on why the symbol was chosen. This book also refers the students to some websites for them to find even more information.… (mere)

The best part of this book is the colorful and clear photographs. Students will probably also appreciate the handy "Fast Facts about California" page where they can find out the natural resources, crops etc. about their state. Generally, the text is easy to read, but at times, confusing. For example, the author explains that the last known California grizzly bear was killed in 1922, but then describes the animal's life and habits in the present tense. Also, since it was published in 1998, some of the facts (population and manufacturing) are a little outdated.… (mere)