daisychics Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 We bought Neil Armstrong, Walt Disney, Wilbur and Orville Wright to read aloud for fun. (buy 2 get 1 free at BN) Not really doing a report on it or anything - I just want to introduce it to ds. He read 4 pages of Walt Disney http://www.amazon.com/Walt-Disney-Childhood-Famous-Americans/dp/0689813244/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208790265&sr=8-5 to me today....he likes it so far. I explained to him the Walt Disney is a person's name. He said, "Oh so it's like Jared ...... films - just like Walt Disney films?! Cool! I want him to know about Walt Disney because we're going to Disneyland next month. YAY! What are your thoughts on these books? I was planning to buy more. They have: Abigail Adams, John Adams, Louisa May Alcott, Susan B. Anthony, Crispus Attucks, Clara Barton, Elizabeth Blackwell and more........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 My kids have read many of them. They are 4th grade reading level, but my now 8th grader just reread Amelia Earhart for fun! Most of them will also be available at your local library, if you want to save money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 I haven't read them aloud but they like to read them independently from about 2nd- 5th grade. My ds buys them when he has a gift card because he feels like he is getting a deal with the "buy two, get one". Marie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca in GA Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 We've enjoyed these as well. We have Martin Luther King, Jr., Babe Ruth, Daniel Boone, Benjamin Franklin and Wilbur and Orville Wright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Readsalot Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 My son devoured COFA's. My personal favorite was Martha Washington, and ds's was Neil Armstrong. They are wonderful books!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 The new ones are rather PC. The old ones are all over ebay, so you can pick up piles of them cheaply. I have almost 70 of them.The new ones are probably also a lot more factual; the old ones were highly fictionalized. I own, for example, a COFA biography of Virginia Dare, which thoroughly disillusioned me when I was 9. Modern biographies for children (in general) are more factual, have much better illustrations--often with photographs of real items--and a lower reading level. Older bio's are more involved and have higher reading levels, but are not nearly as accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Dominion Heather Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 The new ones are probably also a lot more factual; the old ones were highly fictionalized. I have to agree... We (when I was working there) pulled all of the old versions of these from the shelves of the children's library because they were so inaccurate. We could only have kept them as historical fiction and the librarian felt that it would be too confusing to have them in the library with the biographies. (I wish they had just moved the books to the fiction section, but they were discarded.) They are fun, but not non-fiction, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 My dd's also both enjoyed them early on and my almost 12 still reads them for fun. I love the OLD editions that are orange with the black block print type illustrations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIN Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 I can't believe all of the things he has learned from these books as well. I know they are fiction, but they have given ds a good sense of timelines (what happened when), and really broadened his knowledge of history. He knows many of the presidents names, when the were president, about the Civil War, and on and on ALL from these books! We have only studied Ancient and Middle Ages history so far, yet he knows a lot of American history from these books. They are very worthwhile, IMO. Kathy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn in WI Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 We always have about ten of these checked out of the library at a time as they are quick reads. My boys enjoy them and especially enjoy making connections with the history they're reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl in NM Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 My ds loves them. He has read several. He finds them very easy to read and says they are entertaining also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 I'm wondering... have the currently-in-print COFA books been revised from their earlier versions? Or are they entirely rewritten? Or...? I have an old copy of Sacajawea which my dc haven't read yet -- would the current copy have a more accurate story of her life? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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