A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution
by Betsy Maestro & Guilio Maestro
In A More Perfect Union, the Maestros have once again created a history book perfectly pitched to this audience. It's "simple, attractive, and informative" (School Library Journal), providing a very basic but easily understandable introduction to the story of the Constitution, from the convention to the Bill of Rights. This book lacks a lot of detail, but works beautifully as a first introduction to the document.
There are two different covers available for this book, both shown here.
"A simple, attractive, informative book about a milestone in American history. The simplest and most accessible history of the Constitution to date." (School Library Journal) “Should be invaluable.” (Kirkus Reviews) “Most useful as the earliest introduction available to the Constitution.”(Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books)
If you are trying to decide between the Fritz/DePaola title and this book, it's a tough call. Fritz's book, Shh! We're Writing the Constitution, interjects humor in history (via the tidbits about the founding fathers and DePaola's illustrations) whereas this book is more straightforward and serious. Getting both books is a good choice, as they certainly complement each other, but if you only want one,
- choose this book if you want a more serious, factual
approach to
teaching the Constitution
- choose Fritz's book if you think adding in some humor and humanity will be needed to engage your students in the subject
Regardless of which of the book you choose,
you also need Lynne Cheney's We the People.
That is a truly gorgeous book that belongs in every classroom!
Reading Level for A More Perfect Union:
Interest
Level: Grade 2-6
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.2
Lexile Measure: 850L
Guided Reading Level: S
DRA Level: 40
Read-Aloud vs. Individual Reading:
For
kids in second to fourth grade, this book
will likely need to be a read-aloud rather than given to kids for individual reading, as the
reading level is too high for the majority of kids in these grades. However, many
to fifth and sixth graders should be able to read this book on their
own.
Sample Pages: Below are sample spreads from inside this book.
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