I used this series with my children as a first introduction to historic characters. There's always a time-line, photos or drawings on every other page, and just enough information that even young children aren't overwhelmed. SEE my review on Thomas Edison to see an example of the format.

Reading Information:
Word Count: 235
Page Count: 24
Accelerated Reading level: 2.4 / points: 0.5
AR quiz: 61705

see also------
JACKIE ROBINSON
(Rookie Biographies)
by Wil Mara

Which is also at the 2nd Grade reading level.

I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked the author’s use of text features throughout the book. The pages were uniform with black and white pictures, a time line, and captions to accompany. However, I think that there could have been more. There are no underlined or bolded words or headings to introduce the different sections listed in the table of contents. I liked the additional information provided at the end of the book such as a list of words to know and Internet sites for further study. It allows students to take control of their learning by looking up words that they do not know and doing further research on the topic. I didn’t like the language in the book or the author’s use of short sentences. She merely stated facts rather than using academic language to provide more information on the topic. For example, the author writes, “Jackie went to school. He worked hard at many jobs.” I believe that this book would really only be interesting to students who really like Jackie Robinson. I don’t believe that it would draw in readers who do not know much about baseball. Due to the fact that this book is a biography, the big idea is to teach about Jackie Robinson.

Summary: Jackie Robinson was a very famous African American baseball player. He was born in 1919 and his family was poor. He worked multiple jobs to help his family out. In high school and college he won many awards. Jackie was the first African American baseball player in the hall of fame.

Personal Reaction:
I have played baseball my whole life and love the game. I fell that African American baseball players were not treated fairly back in the day.

Classroom extensions:
1. Have students draw Jackie and his attire.
2. Make students read about Jackie. ( )

I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked the author’s use of text features throughout the book. The pages were uniform with black and white pictures, a time line, and captions to accompany. However, I think that there could have been more. There are no underlined or bolded words or headings to introduce the different sections listed in the table of contents. I liked the additional information provided at the end of the book such as a list of words to know and Internet sites for further study. It allows students to take control of their learning by looking up words that they do not know and doing further research on the topic. I didn’t like the language in the book or the author’s use of short sentences. She merely stated facts rather than using academic language to provide more information on the topic. For example, the author writes, “Jackie went to school. He worked hard at many jobs.” I believe that this book would really only be interesting to students who really like Jackie Robinson. I don’t believe that it would draw in readers who do not know much about baseball. Due to the fact that this book is a biography, the big idea is to teach about Jackie Robinson. ( )