Secrets of American History: World War I by Elizabeth Dennis - ADVISABLE

Dennis, Elizabeth Secrets of American History: World War I Illustrated by Valerio Fabbretti EARLY READER Simon Spotlight, 2018. $17. Content: G.  978-1534410510

This book gives a short and succinct summary of World War I.  Then it tells of three different stories, broken up by chapter, of cool people who helped win the war.  First, there was a zoologist and an artist who built on each other’s ideas to paint razzle dazzle ships for the British navy which helped confuse the enemy.  Second, there were people from the Choctaw Indian tribe who helped communicate code during the war and the enemy couldn’t decode it.  And third, a man named Eugene Bullard moved to France to escape racism and there he joined the French’s air force and flew on many successful missions during the war.  At the end there are three short explanations on how razzle dazzle ships work, animal heroes and how a periscope works.  

This book has interested and rare facts from World War I that are fun to learn about.  The reading level for this early reader is higher, making it great for second or third grade and has a lot of text and content.  The illustrations are cartoon-ish and well done, but it would have been cool to have some real photographs.  I’m not sure if second and third graders still check out the books that look like early readers, but if they do they will enjoy this book.  

EL (K-3) – ADVISABLE.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.