Rating: 
Summary: Flashlight-under-the-covers good!
Review: A thought provoking journey through pre-history to the present. Ms Hakim has done an outstanding job pulling together a very readable story of the United States. My 10 year old promptly took possession of book 2 and reads a couple of chapters each night. (I had already appropriated book 1). On more than one occasion I have found her reading this book after "lights out".The chapters are bite-sized; presenting an idea, concept or event in a way that makes it easy to get your arms around. The story proceeds basically chronologically, but can be read in any order without loss of enjoyment or knowledge transfer. The vocabulary & writing style is comfortable for middle school - while still engaging for me as an adult. Book 11 contains an amazing collection of some of the great source documents that are important to our country. The author presents the good, the bad, and the ugly of our history fairly (I think). She differentiates between fact, opinion and supposition and constantly challenges the reader to think about what they are reading. I am pleased with these books, and hope that 13 years from now when my last child is college-bound they will be dog-earred and marked up from school projects and idle-time reading. Early indications are that I won't be disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: note to change incorrect info.
Review: Books not for ages 4 to 8, rather for ages 9 and up (lots of adults are reading these books). Also, Hutton criticism is about an edition of the book that no longer exists. Reagan photo changed two years ago.
Rating: 
Summary: Buyer Beware.
Review: Customer reviewers alleah and Tom Steinberg (see Spotlight Reviews) sum up this series quite well. I'd like to add that, as a homeschooler of a special needs child who is what I call a "reluctant reader", I find the short, to-the-point entries written in interesting story format not only do-able for my son, but an excellent means of imparting the comprehensive, overall view of American history he will need as a foundation for the more difficult, in-depth work he will be doing in high school. I strongly recommend this series to all families with grammar/middle school students, whether homeschooled or private/public schooled. In addition, I recommend the eleventh book in the series, "Sourcebook and Index: Documents That Shaped the American Nation". (Titles of books should be underlined, not in quotation marks, but, alas, the program doesn't allow for that.) Well worth owning, as these books are hard to find in libraries (at least where I live) and, as reference books, can't be borrowed, only read right there at the library. If you are going to purchase the series, Amazon has the best price I've seen by several dollars per book.
Rating:
Summary: Easy and enjoyable for reluctant readers.
Review: Customer reviewers alleah and Tom Steinberg (see Spotlight Reviews) sum up this series quite well. I'd like to add that, as a homeschooler of a special needs child who is what I call a "reluctant reader", I find the short, to-the-point entries written in interesting story format not only do-able for my son, but an excellent means of imparting the comprehensive, overall view of American history he will need as a foundation for the more difficult, in-depth work he will be doing in high school. I strongly recommend this series to all families with grammar/middle school students, whether homeschooled or private/public schooled. In addition, I recommend the eleventh book in the series, "Sourcebook and Index: Documents That Shaped the American Nation". (Titles of books should be underlined, not in quotation marks, but, alas, the program doesn't allow for that.) Well worth owning, as these books are hard to find in libraries (at least where I live) and, as reference books, can't be borrowed, only read right there at the library. If you are going to purchase the series, Amazon has the best price I've seen by several dollars per book.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully evenhanded readable series
Review: I bought the 10 volume hard-cover series about 2 years ago when it was "on sale" through a childrens book of the month club. I thought it would make a good reference series for my then 8 year old child. I picked up the first volume, just to see what it was like. One summer and 2000 pages later I had finished the whole series. It was terrific. If I had learned history this way as I child I would have thought the subject fascinating! Every parent should introduce this series to their local schools. It's full of readable stories that bring history alive for children. My personal favorite was the chapter on Frank Baum, considered a failure...that is until he wrote and published The Wizard of Oz.
Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware.
Review: I doubt there's any US History textbooks more excitingly written for kids age 9-12 than Joy Hakim's. (This series is the one used in one of the best private schools in Silicon Valley.) They're glossy and beautiful, and well-nigh irresistible. What an incredible shame. What's the problem? The problem is they contain a version of history so slanted as to amount to an utterly shameless propagandizing of children. I'm a liberal atheist, but, really, these books should be sealed into a time capsule, to entertain future historians. I assume Hakim simply doesn't know any better, but even a Marxist with a PhD in American History would blush a little to discover that a child reading this series would never suspect that close to 100 million innocent men, women, and children died under the yoke of socialist regimes, nor that a third of the world was plunged into an unnecessary grinding poverty for decades. On the other hand, they will learn, as they should, that National Socialism murdered six million innocents, and that the Ku Klux Klan 'grew hugely' in the 1920s. But they won't learn that any other serious totalitarian movements also grew hugely in the 1920s, or that five million innocents died under the rule of Lenin's first experiment in socialism in the 1920s. On the contrary, all anti-Communism in the twentieth century is presented as nothing better than a witch-hunt. Indeed, anti-communism is literally referred to as a 'witch-hunt,' several times. Come on. So, was the fight against Hitler's National Socialism a 'witch-hunt'? Why such a palpable double standard for twin evils? Hakim teaches children that while National Socialism was indeed a real and present danger, and even worth waging an unprecedented World War to fight it, on the other hand, international socialism, or Communism, was, as she tells it, never any real danger to Americans. For instance, there's a chapter on the HUAC hearings in which McCarthy is referred to as a 'liar' about a half a dozen times. The chapter literally begins with the opening sentence "Joe McCarthy was a liar." Sure, he's controversial, but the latest research by historians just doesn't back up Hakim's wild-eyed account of liberal anti-socialism in America as nothing better than a nefarious 'witch-hunt' conducted by 'liars' and oppressors. Totalitarian Communist Lillian Hellman is profiled as a hero, and the overall impression is given that none of these people really were Communists, but, instead, were all just as falsely accused as the supposed 'witches' of Salem. This conclusion is then used to prove the statement that Americans are a fundamentally paranoid people, who basically lose their marbles very once in a while. (See book "Not Without Honor." on McCarthy and PBS documentary on Salem to find out why even Salem wasn't actually paranoia after all, but a toxic crop of moldy rye.)
Rating: 
Summary: Good content with a few remarks
Review: I have read the whole books of this series. The whole books consist of approximately 1850 pages not including table of contents and appendixes. Very few authors managed to write history book without putting the reader to sleep. Joy Hakim is one of the few. The author explained the history of the United States by telling stories. From the first Native Americans who crossed the Bering Sea a few thousands years ago to 2000 Presidential Election Fiasco. The book emphasized on the civil right issue, which is justice and equal right for all Americans, regardless of the race. Overall, this is a very good and entertaining book on the history of the United States. However, the author judgemental opinion on some of the political figures may trouble some. It didn't trouble me since I am a liberal and so does the author, but if you are a conservative you may not like to read this book.
Rating:
Summary: The best history books.
Review: I loved every moment with all of these books. Refreshing information. Author put time into her books. There isn't a perfect history book out there but I relished in her efforts. These are not a waste of money.
Rating:
Summary: History made fun
Review: I really like A History of US books. They make history really fun and interesting. Even people who don't like history will love these books, they teach history step by step in a way that makes it stick to your mind. I strongly sugest getting these books. They would also make great text books for school.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad History book
Review: I teach 8th grade social studies and this textbook is the worst piece of garbage I have ever read. There is no relevant vocabulary, no glossary, and lacks important facts. It is unfortunate that trees were killed to write this horrible book.
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