Don't Know Much About the 50 States: Amazing U.S.A. and Presidential Facts for Kids

Don't Know Much About

by Kenneth C. Davis, Renee Andriani (Illustrator)

Thirteen stripes-
Fifty stars-
And hundreds of AMAZING facts about the U.S.A.! Can you guess the names of the ten states below?
1. I have the highest waterfalls in North America.
2. I am the smallest state.
3. I am the largest state.
4. I have produced the most presidents of the United States.
5. I was the first to become a state.
6. I was the last to become a state.
7. I have the "Gateway to America."
8. I have the most kids under age ten.
9. I have the most tornadoes.
10. I am home to America's most popular vacation spot.See page 6 for answers.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Geography, Childrens, Picture Books, Reference, American History

64 pages, Paperback

First published July 24, 2001

About the author

Kenneth C. Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of the Don't Know Much About® series of books and audios for adults and children. Don't Know Much About® History, the first title in the series, became a New York Times bestseller in 1991 and remained on the paperback list for 35 consecutive weeks. It has since been revised several times and now has more than 1.6 million copies in print. The 30th anniversary edition of the book was published with a new preface, "From an Era of Broken Trust to an Era of Broken Democracy."

Davis is, according to Publishers Weekly, "a go-to guy for historical insight and analysis."

AMERICA'S HIDDEN HISTORY also became a New York Times bestseller. A NATION RISING also uses dramatic narratives to tell the "stories your textbooks left out." His book, THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF AMERICA AT WAR (May 5, 2015) was called "searing" analysis by Publishers Weekly.

Kenneth C. Davis’s success aptly makes the case that Americans don’t hate history, just the dull version they slept through in class. Davis’s approach is to refresh us on the subjects we should have learned in school. He does it by busting myths, setting the record straight, and always remembering that fun is not a four-word letter word.

His IN THE SHADOW OF LIBERTY: THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SLAVERY, FOUR PRESIDENTS, AND FIVE BLACK LIVES looks at the lives of five people enslaved by four of America's most famous Presidents and the role of slavery in American history and the presidency. In May 2018, MORE DEADLY THAN WAR: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War was published.

STRONGMAN: The Rise of Five Dictators and the Fall of Democracy was published by Holt. It was named among the best books of 2020 by Kirkus Reviews and the Washington Post.

In November 2022 GREAT SHORT BOOKS: A Year of Reading--Briefly was published by SCribner. A compendium of 58 great short works Davis read during the pandemic lock down, it is a joyous celebration of reading.

Coming in October 2024 is THE WORLD IN BOOKS: 52 WORKS OF GREAT SHORT NONFICTION. It is an accessible and comprehensive guide to some of the most influential and important works of nonfiction, from the earliest days of writing to contemporary times. Each entry includes information about the writers behind these consequential books and the time in which they lived.

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Because trivia is fun.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

AR 6.5

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information about the 50 states plus a lot of fun facts.

[Kymberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

So enjoyed this book! I wish he would do extended version sharing more facts and information. Great starter book for children about each state.

[Tabitha Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you see when you look at the American Flag? Fifty white stars—that’s easy. But what about the thirteen stripes? Ever wondered why they are on our flag? Don’t Know Much About the 50 States by Kenneth C. Davis is a book that introduces us to the past about how our country began to form and what the thirteen stripes on our flag represent. Along with giving a bit of brief history about our country, like how some states were once called colonies ruled by the King of England, this book tells the story of each of the fifty states in a fun and creative way. This book doesn’t just address tons and tons of information about states in a typical manner and it is not just filled with dates of admission and names of capitals. Instead, it is completely loaded with questions and answers about unusual people, places, and things that make learning about the states a lot more fun and interesting to all readers.

This book is great for elementary grades because it focuses on a lot of factual information about each of the fifty states and asks fun, intriguing questions that can stimulate a student’s thinking to see what they already know about some states they have learned in class.

Teachers will love and want to get their hands on this book, because there are so many creative activities that they can come up with by using this book, to help their students learn more about geography and states. By the time your reader finishes this book, they will know answers to which state has the most tornadoes and which state has the highest waterfall in North America! Who knew that there could be such fun and interacting ways to learn about our 50 states!

[Sarah Nottingham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t know much about the 50 States By Kenneth C. Davis is about the facts, culture and history of the different 50 states. I enjoyed this story because I learned different entertaining and unique facts about states. The illustrations are cartoonish and humorous, which engages the reader in the information book.
This particular story could be used as an independent read or read aloud story in a 2nd through 4th grade classroom. The story could be used as a read aloud during social studies while discussing history or the county. This information book could be used as independent read for children interested in different cultures or interested in traveling.
This information book contains particular nonfiction conventions throughout the book. The book contains word bubbles, diagrams, and tables to describe and illustrate the 50 states. The book contains text organizers it has an index and table of contents. The book also has fonts and effects to signal importance of texts; the book uses titles, heading, bold face texts, captions and labels.

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I'd come across this while I was working with 5th graders on their state reports. This is not an in-depth study of the states - each state has a one page spread (CA, TX and NY get two pages, natch) with two questions and in-depth answers. For example under Virginia is the question: "Why is Virginia called both a mother and a father?" It's called a mother because 8 presidents were born there, and a father because 8 other states were formed from its original land claim. I learned this and many other interesting and "new" facts.

[Tressa Sands · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize he had an entire series like this book! I read this as a child and I used it to teach my younger sister about the 50 states. It keeps kids entertained, but it still has really cool facts in it to learn! Love it.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Davis, author of the popular, Don't Know Much About History, has created an entire series for kids. They are easy-to-read, factual, and full of interesting tidbits.

[Lauren Astle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find some of the facts that the author uses in this book don't describe the fifty states well. It was good when teaching kids about Idaho

[Colleen]

This State of Mine - unit 6
Leveld Books - Advanced

[Lam Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geography- states

[Sparkie Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice overview. Makes me want to travel all 50 states- halfway there.

[Margret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read it with my youngest son in 2008 and now with my grandkids. Very informative and we love it.