Phones 100 Years Ago

November 1, 2011

K-Gr 2-These books are clearly intended for classroom collections. Period photographs extend the texts as strong educational as well as visual elements. Six of them are repeated in a glossary and then two images, one from the present and one from the past, are juxtaposed and accompanied by the question, "What's Different?" A first response is likely to be that the color one is from the present, with more in-depth answers being a challenge of what can be discerned from the small and not overtly paired images. Children see a wide shot of an old store and the produce aisle of a modern one; two red sports-car toys; two street corners, a telephone switchboard and telemarketers, a formal portrait of a group of youngsters opposite a few kids facing flat-screen monitors, and children outdoors past and present. The texts are comprised of simple declarative sentences with each spread presenting a complete thought or idea. A list of ideas for parents and teachers offers directions on how to broaden the lesson. Related websites are mostly for older readers, with more than half being commercial. The onus is really on the adults to make the social-science lessons successful.-Janet S. Thompson, Chicago Public Library

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