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HF: American Girls Rule!
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From: JanetWana at aol.com <JanetWana>
Date: Sat, 8 May 2004 14:49:03 EDT
Disclaimer: I am not an employee of American Girl TM or Pleasant Company Publications (though I would love to be). I am receiving no monetary gains (or free books) for posting this glowing review/sales pitch. All names of characters and "American Girl" (AG) are registered trademarks.
Show me a girl reading HF and I'll show you a girl who has probably read the books in the American Girls collection. Kaya (1764), Felicity (1774), Josephina (1824), Kirsten (1854), Addie (1864), Samantha (1904), Kit (1934), and Molly (1944). Before I read these books I assumed they were accessories to go with the dolls, barely worthy of consideration. Then I sat down one day when I had an hour to read and picked up one of Addie's stories. I was hooked. I couldn't believe how well written the book was, how compelling the character and story were, and how excited I was to read the next book about Addie.
There are six main books about each character. The books are about 60 pages in length. Each girl is nine years old and turns 10 in book 4 of the six book series. The first book is "Meet ____" where you learn about the character and her life/time. The second book, "___Learns A Lesson" is set in school/or the learning environment of the time period. The third book is "____'s Surprise" and is a Christmas story (Josephina's is my favorite). "Happy Birthday_____" is the fourth book. Felicity's birthday story includes a Revolutionary War spy storyline. In "____ Saves the Day" our heroine is involved in a dangerous adventure where she proves herself capable and assertive. The final book,
"Changes for ____" involves a major change, not quite coming of age, but coming out of childhood.
I have found that these characters act as hooks on a U.S. history timeline for assimilating new information. Before my daughter read Number the Stars, I mentioned it was set during "Molly's time." When Russell Freeman spoke at our public library and talked about his book Kids At Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor, I could whisper in her ear, "Like when Samantha got Nellie out of working in the thread factory." In the musical "Annie" references to "Hooverville" could be connected with two words: "Kit's time." I could go on and on. I can't imagine how much more meaningful U.S. history will be for girls with all of this background knowledge acquired through the American Girls as the starting point.
Many postings have mentioned historical information included at the end of the HF books. In the AG books, the section is called "A Peek Into the Past." This section gives background on the history of the time including politics, economics, fashion, and culture (varying from book to book). For a more in?pth look at the history of the time, the Pleasant Company people have put together an oversized scrapbook style book that reads like (and has been researched like) a museum exhibit. There is one book for each girl's time period (except Kaya 1764- the newest addition to the line). These oversized books are called: Welcome to _________'s World.
Barbara Tobin's posting mentioned "paired books." In Wisconsin our third grade reading test has been reformatted to test understanding of fiction and non-fiction, thus teachers are now more aware than ever of the need to pair fiction with non-fiction. These pairings help develop higher level thinking skills, especially teachers focus on comparing/contrasting. Teachers are also in need of material at each child's reading level, so while some kids may be able to read Johnny Tremain, others may need Felicity from the AG series. Kids will only become fluent readers if given material they can actually read.
Perhaps some of you in the Madison area (or in the publishing community) could comment on Pleasant T. Rowland, founder of the American Girl Corporation. Did her books pave the way for the other series books currently available such as "Dear America?"
I see in coming months we will be discussing books and tie-ins and other aspect of selling books. While this posting may seem commercial to some, I just can't say enough about the quality of these books and the impact I think they have on the whole genre and on future reading choices made by girls.
Janet Wanamaker Neenah, WI
Received on Sat 08 May 2004 01:49:03 PM CDT
Date: Sat, 8 May 2004 14:49:03 EDT
Disclaimer: I am not an employee of American Girl TM or Pleasant Company Publications (though I would love to be). I am receiving no monetary gains (or free books) for posting this glowing review/sales pitch. All names of characters and "American Girl" (AG) are registered trademarks.
Show me a girl reading HF and I'll show you a girl who has probably read the books in the American Girls collection. Kaya (1764), Felicity (1774), Josephina (1824), Kirsten (1854), Addie (1864), Samantha (1904), Kit (1934), and Molly (1944). Before I read these books I assumed they were accessories to go with the dolls, barely worthy of consideration. Then I sat down one day when I had an hour to read and picked up one of Addie's stories. I was hooked. I couldn't believe how well written the book was, how compelling the character and story were, and how excited I was to read the next book about Addie.
There are six main books about each character. The books are about 60 pages in length. Each girl is nine years old and turns 10 in book 4 of the six book series. The first book is "Meet ____" where you learn about the character and her life/time. The second book, "___Learns A Lesson" is set in school/or the learning environment of the time period. The third book is "____'s Surprise" and is a Christmas story (Josephina's is my favorite). "Happy Birthday_____" is the fourth book. Felicity's birthday story includes a Revolutionary War spy storyline. In "____ Saves the Day" our heroine is involved in a dangerous adventure where she proves herself capable and assertive. The final book,
"Changes for ____" involves a major change, not quite coming of age, but coming out of childhood.
I have found that these characters act as hooks on a U.S. history timeline for assimilating new information. Before my daughter read Number the Stars, I mentioned it was set during "Molly's time." When Russell Freeman spoke at our public library and talked about his book Kids At Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade Against Child Labor, I could whisper in her ear, "Like when Samantha got Nellie out of working in the thread factory." In the musical "Annie" references to "Hooverville" could be connected with two words: "Kit's time." I could go on and on. I can't imagine how much more meaningful U.S. history will be for girls with all of this background knowledge acquired through the American Girls as the starting point.
Many postings have mentioned historical information included at the end of the HF books. In the AG books, the section is called "A Peek Into the Past." This section gives background on the history of the time including politics, economics, fashion, and culture (varying from book to book). For a more in?pth look at the history of the time, the Pleasant Company people have put together an oversized scrapbook style book that reads like (and has been researched like) a museum exhibit. There is one book for each girl's time period (except Kaya 1764- the newest addition to the line). These oversized books are called: Welcome to _________'s World.
Barbara Tobin's posting mentioned "paired books." In Wisconsin our third grade reading test has been reformatted to test understanding of fiction and non-fiction, thus teachers are now more aware than ever of the need to pair fiction with non-fiction. These pairings help develop higher level thinking skills, especially teachers focus on comparing/contrasting. Teachers are also in need of material at each child's reading level, so while some kids may be able to read Johnny Tremain, others may need Felicity from the AG series. Kids will only become fluent readers if given material they can actually read.
Perhaps some of you in the Madison area (or in the publishing community) could comment on Pleasant T. Rowland, founder of the American Girl Corporation. Did her books pave the way for the other series books currently available such as "Dear America?"
I see in coming months we will be discussing books and tie-ins and other aspect of selling books. While this posting may seem commercial to some, I just can't say enough about the quality of these books and the impact I think they have on the whole genre and on future reading choices made by girls.
Janet Wanamaker Neenah, WI
Received on Sat 08 May 2004 01:49:03 PM CDT
