Why Did the Whole World Go to War?: And Other Questions About... World War II

Good Question!

by Martin W. Sandler

Why Did the Whole World Go to War?: And Other Questions About... World War II...

Genres: Nonfiction, World War II

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Martin W. Sandler has written more than seventy books for children and adults and has written and produced seven television series. He has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and has won multiple Emmy Awards. He lives in Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Connie Gunderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eddie gives this one a B without much more to add.

[Jim Erekson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tricked! This is a basic outline-format book moving from subtopic to subtopic through WWII. The trick is that all the subheaders have been turned into questions--the old SQ3R technique (coincidentally developed during WWII for the military)!

This could be effective, especially if the reader browsed around to find questions that actually sparked an interest. But in general the problem with the book providing the questions is that it takes away the opportunity of the reader to do the active thinking.

Sandler's compact text keeps each subtopic on a single page, so each of the topics is truly modular. The compact treatment keeps any one topic from its potential depth. Some of the topics suffer from this. Sentences like this one about FDR "During the war, he was a great leader" are not helpful.

Bob Barrett was one of Nancy's illustration professors at BYU. His style relies heavily on the overpainted background. There is no white space. Figures and other content are composed on top of this background, which is already a composition and color study in its own right.

[J. Bryce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin Sandler tackles this huge subject fairly successfully in this slim (32 pages), well-illustrated book. The chronology and even most of the cause-and-effect of events are fairly represented, with very few problem areas apart from some odd word usage, mostly in the attempt to reduce complex ideas to a level a not-very-interested ten-year-old would understand.

The art, by Robert Barrett, is based on photos and is colorful and dynamic.

Recommended as a good first book on World War II.

[NYC Reads 365 · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Kids will love this Q&A format which asks and answers key questions about why World War II started, some background information about World War I, and much more. It covers the role of women and the role of African-Americans and does a great job of packaging the complexity of the war across both oceans in small doses. A fabulous introduction to the leaders, the countries, and the tragedy of the deadliest war of all time."

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one of a new series entitled Good Question! The series takes events from history and explains them in question and answer format. It provides a lot of information organized in a way that makes it easier to understand than a straight narrative.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little advanced for my area and kids, but a fantastic book about WW II. I thought I knew a lot about the war but I learned a few things! Well written easy to understand with nice illustrations .

I enjoyed it!

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received a review copy of this book and blogged about it here:

http://www.theangelforever.com/2013/0...