The American Patriot's Almanac by William J Bennett

I love books. In fact, one of the top 10 reasons for clutter in our home would be because of books. They are everywhere. And I'm really not complaining because one of the things that truly makes me happy is seeing that all 3 of my boys love to read.

So when I found out that BookSneeze.com would send me a FREE book, just for reading it and offering to review it, I was doing a dance of joy.

My dance turned into a joyful jive when I saw that one of books I could choose to review was "The American Patriot's Almanac" by William J Bennett.

The book is organized by "months" and is intended to be read daily, like a journal.  Each daily reading has a short history lesson followed by a section titled "American History Parade" which lists some short trivia about other events that happened on that day throughout American History. Also, each "month" has a theme to it with a short supplemental lesson at the end.

For example, today is April 4th and so we read from the page dated "April 4th".  The topic covered was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr on April 4th 1968.

Here the author's do a wonderful job of summarizing Martin Luther King Jr's last moments, his mission, his assassination and his legacy in 6 short paragraphs. It was a bite-size snap shot of an incredible man and unforgettable moment in history.

It was just enough information that we, as a family, could read through it in a few moments at the supper table and then discuss it. The information was thought provoking enough to be interesting for the adults, yet written simply enough that even our youngest son could understand it.

And son #2 loved the trivia at the bottom, namely the fact that on April 4th, 1841 President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia just one month over his inauguration.

I have to admit that I already read ahead to the supplement at the end of April. It's titled "Fifty American Quotes" and I can never pass up a good quote!

I think anyone who has any interest in history will find this book to be a worthwhile investment.  And I also think that it is a great book for those who have always thought history was boring - this book will change their minds.  Finally, it is a must have for any family who wants their children to have good understanding of where this country came from and what it's all about. I love this book and I look forward to sharing it with my boys. It is a great way of sharing vital pieces of American History in bite-size pieces. I know that we will be reading this book for years to come.

Preview the book further HERE.