“A fantastic new city activity book from the For Kids series, this engaging guide is packed with historical and entertaining anecdotes from New York City past and present. Young readers journey from the early Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam to the immigrant tenements near Five Points in the Lower East Side, and finally to today’s well-loved landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and Central Park. Budding historians will get a chance to make Samp Porridge just like the early Dutch settlers, draw a political cartoon like those published during the city’s early times of political scandal and crime, and take a skyscraper walking tour of the city to observe and compare how the urban landscape has changed. Teachers and parents will appreciate the book’s educational hands-on and supplemental online resources for further exploration of the city’s rich history—and its activities may inspire classroom projects or even special family outings around the city.”
My son is 9 so I thought this would be a great book for him to read. I was also smart about it, he has to read 25 full books in 4th grade, I told him this will be one of those!
As Manhattanites, we walk a lot, and all over the city. We live in the East Village and have been known to walk as far as Chinatown, and also in the other direction to Times Square. Part of our own little history tour of NYC in these walks is about looking at buildings. This is one way we have tried to guide our son to have an interest in the world around him, and also to see living history.
Did you know if you look closely at the buildings on East Broadway, in the heart of Chinatown in NYC, you can see Jewish Stars on the buildings? When we take out Chinatown walks, we show this to our son, and we explain the various immigrant groups that have come to NYC and their paths, and also how things change through time
We hope that by giving our son this type of background in life he will continue his interest in the world around him. Having a reference book like this New York City History for Kids has been fun for him to learn more about his city (yes, he feels nationalistic if you will towards his hometown!). He has been enjoying seeing his city’s history in a book written for his grade level, I am thrilled that we were able to get a copy of this!
For more information, and for other offerings please visit Independent Publisher’s Group!
Disclosure: We received this book for review. All opinions are 100% honest and our own.
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