The Split History of the Civil War

November 1, 2012

Gr 4-6-Each title in this engaging series is actually two books in one, right down to having two front covers and two indexes. One half of each volume describes events, people, and ideologies that represent one side's view of a major historical event or period. The other half recounts the opposing side's position. Using concise, well-researched content, this approach engages critical-thinking skills by encouraging students to look at issues from a variety of perspectives. For example, in Expansion the "Settlers' Perspective" is that "they would be settling the land and improving it both for themselves and future generations." In contrast, the "American Indian Perspective" is that "They felt cheated by the U.S. government and angry over how they were treated." Archival photographs and reproductions, in both color and black and white, effectively illustrate the texts, and sidebars offer profiles of important figures and other relevant information. The simple layout helps keep the flip concept from being fussy or confusing.

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2012
Grades 6-8 From the Perspectives Flip Book series, this volume offers two books in one binding. Each tells the story of the Civil War, providing a quick march through major battles and concluding with the South's surrender. One side is labeled Union Perspective. Flip the book over for Confederate Perspective. With 32 pages in each account and a clearly reproduced illustration or archival photo on each spread, the text is necessarily brief. Both discussions include quotes from period sources. Each offers more information related to either the Confederate or the Union side, but there's little difference in actual perspective. Printed sideways at midvolume, a time line of the war can be referenced from either direction. Though sometimes the two sides used different names for the same battle, the time line gives only one. For larger collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)