I purchased this book for my 8 yr. old son at our local school's book fair. Beautiful design, loads of information, the name "scholastic" on the cover. . . seemed perfect. Imagine my dismay when I came home and got a chance to actually read some of the entries--notably George W. Bush. Is David Rubel a member of Moveon.org? Of the DNC? Was he Howard Dean's speechwriter? This author was COMPLETELY biased and it is definitely NOT an "encyclopedia"-- despite its claim to the contrary. Encyclopedias are supposed to be unbiased. Children's books, especially, are not supposed to reek of bias. David Rubel makes it clear that GWB is reviled--deservedly so--by everyone. His entry on Bush clearly shows us his own personal views. He believes that only religious Christians support Bush, that Bush divided this country, that Bush only sees one side of every issue, and that he has angered the country by siding against stem cell research, pulling out of Kyoto, and the International Criminal Court. There's much more. As a matter of fact, there isn't ONE positive comment attributed to Bush, and there is a whole lot of negative "spin". Scholastic ought to be ashamed of themselves for passing this off as an encyclopedia and might want to consider repackaging this book as "The Liberals Take on our US Presidents and Their Times". Yes, there is clearly bias regarding some of the other entries, as well. But, the Bush entry is clearly the absolute worst. I'm just saddened to know that, unfortunately, many children will find this book in their school's library and use it as reference material.Read full review
Great books for students to have as a reference. It is colorful, informative and interesting. Great buy and it contains interesting information about each president. The book is up to date containing the information of at least George W. Bush. Will use at home with my kids and family. Its important to keep our children informed with books like these. Let's make this book a before to bed book.
This is a second one I bought for my son. The first book he decided to donate to his class room so his friends could share his favour book about Presidents and American history. It means this book is very helpfull for kids.
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Books
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Books