booandbunny

There’s something that happens to me about this time each year, when we go to Oklahoma to visit family.

Oklahoma is the place where I came of age. It’s the place where I first experienced what it’s like to be in the minority, whether as a woman in a group of men, as a Caucasian in a group of other ethnic people or as a Catholic in a city of fundamentalists. It was the place where I learned some of the true differences between the North and the South. It was the place I couldn’t wait to leave. I am a Yankee, though even Missouri seems Southern to me after my time in Chicago, but I digress.

As it is with most things as we get older, I see it differently now. When we cross the state line and take those slow curves and easy undulations of the Will Rogers Turnpike into Tulsa I just can’t get over the beauty of it all. Cross the Arkansas River on the West side of Tulsa and the vegetation changes just a bit. Where the Earth is opened, whether by nature or machine, the most amazing shades of red burst forth in the sunlight. I love this drive along the spirit of Route 66, the stone walls that rise up on either side of the road in Southwest Missouri; the boats that make little sense to folks unfamiliar with the abundance of lakes in these two states; the license plates from Vermont to California reminding me of how far apart Americans are while all still traveling the same road.

So we took time off from our “library travels” as we logged some actual miles this past month. Here are some of the books we read to celebrate an All-American month, from the Fourth of July to our annual trek Southwest.

Hello U.S.A.: Oklahoma by Rita C. LaDoux (facts, history, famous natives, etc.)

A True Book: The Seminole by Stefanie Takacs

A True Book: The Cherokee by Andrew Santella

A True Book: The Choctaw by Christin Ditchfield

The Creek Nation by Allison Lassieur

The Chikasaw Nation by Karen Bush Gibson

(Originally, Indian Territory was divided up for these five tribes. Eventually, their holdings dwindled as more and more tribes were relocated before the land run. These non-fiction books for young readers offer history, culture and insight on modern tribal life.)

I Have Heard of a Land by Joyce Carol Thomas, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (This story illustrates the role of former slaves in the land run.)

O, Say Can you See? America’s Symbols, Landmarks and Inspiring Words by Sheila Keenan, illustrated by Ann Boyajian (Lively watercolor illustrations with history of places to visit and evolution of symbols such as the flag and national holidays.)

If the Walls Could Talk: Family Life at the White House by Jane O’Connor illustrated by Gary Hovland (Tracks construction of White House as well as the important events and the lifestyle changes over the course of presidency, all the way to today.)

Don’t Know Much About the Presidents by Kenneth C. Davis (2002)

Don’t Know Much About the 50 States by Kenneth C. Davis (Davis has a great way of boiling things down for the youngest readers to start getting a taste of facts. Neither book devotes more than a page to any one subject, but offers enough for kids to pack some trivia into their very absorbent brains!)

// posted by HoBess @ 8/01/2006 02:21:00 PM