I reviewed the book Abraham's Journey: A Celebration of the American Dream brought to you by Robert and Kathleen Basmadjian over at Inspiring the American Dream.
The Great Recession took place in America from December 2007 - June 2009. Although not as horrific as the Great Depression of 1929 that many of our grandparents or great-grandparents experienced, it has affected a majority of our population in one way or another. I'm sure most of us know at least one family or business that had to file for bankruptcy on their home or downsize their business at this time. Many major chains in our community, have had to close their doors to the public, even ones that have served us for decades. As a country, we still are experiencing the effects of this financial tragedy, even though some are convinced we are on our way to recovery.
The setting of Abraham's journey is right here in the 21st century at the time of the Great Recession. The story focuses on a young boy, Abraham whose parents lose their jobs. Devastated that the family Christmas traditions would not be able to stay the same this year, he is transported throughout time, both past and present with President Abraham Lincoln, to meet significant Americans. Some are American heroes and legends such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Amelia Earhart. Others include current entrepreneurs such as Bill Gates and the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerman. Each of these men and women share briefly the achievements they were able to accomplish in America and encourage the young boy Abraham to do the same.
This short, thirty page book includes both text and illustrations geared towards children ages 7 through 12 and retails for $14.99. I shared this story as a read-aloud with my four and six year olds. Since the young boy was encouraged to get connected with social networking sites to sell items in order to make money for Christmas gifts, I felt my kids were too young for this particular story. Although I have seen parents successfully encourage their homeschoolers to their creative items on sites such as Etsy, I believe my children are too young to get connected in this way. Children are not to join Facebook until 13 or older so I would suggest this book for families with older children.
