Samantha's World: A Girl's-eye View of the Turn of the Century

by American Girl

Describes the culture, technological innovations, politics, labor conditions, and rights of women in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century.

Genres: Childrens, Nonfiction

30 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2009

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely wonderful companion book that explores Samantha's World.

This book starts with a brief explanation of Samantha and the early 1900s in New York. You can open a giant foldout of Samantha's neighborhood and has a little a scavenger hunt where you can play I-Spy with things hidden around the block.

From there we learn about Samantha's home - with a beautiful illustration of the outside and then we delve into the specific rooms. There's a deep dive into the dining room and the etiquette followed by another about Mrs. Hawkins's kitchen, complete with lift-the-flaps to give us more information about the ice box or the stove.

Next, we see all sorts of "Newfangled" inventions - like the telephone, vacuum, and lamps. And then there's the Newfangled Notions - which talks about the women's right to vote and women's participation in sports.

From there we get more fun activities that Samantha likely enjoyed - like riding the carousal, Wild West Shows, and operas - and a little deep dive into toys that she enjoyed - like dollhouses, teddy bears, and ping pong.

There's a fashion section that shows all sorts of hair accessories and outfits, then a sobering look into the factories responsible for the thread and other items. There's a brief section talking about human rights and how Samantha did her part to raise awareness.

We also learn about the push to preserve the natural world and are able to see a few of the heroes behind that.

This book ends with one of the coolest pages I've seen in these companion history books -- a giant popup of Piney Point - Grandmary's log vacation home, complete with miniature paper dolls of Samantha and Nellie

Overall Thoughts

As always, I'm very impressed by the historical content and research that goes into these companion books.

Now, I was a bit worried that this one would be very similar to Welcome to Samantha's World · 1904: Growing Up in America's New Century but I think it can stand on its own.

The Welcome to Samantha's World book focuses on teaching through text. It still has illustrations and pictures but there's a lot of reading and information conveyed in the written word.

Samantha's World is more visual. Lots of illustrations and pictures from that era, and less text surrounding it. I did like seeing into Samantha's parlor or kitchen - it's a fun way to experience her world.

Both of the books overlap with regards to a lot of the content (i.e. they cover fashion, toys, manners, servant duties) but the information is presented in a new and interesting way for this book.

One thing that I did notice is that this one does reuse a lot of the pictures and illustrations from the original books or other companion books published in this universe. It didn't bother me too much but I did kind of wish they had commissioned some new art to go along with this book.

More reviews in the Samantha-verse

Main Series:
Meet Samantha - ★★★★☆
Samantha Learns a Lesson - ★★★★★
Samantha's Surprise - ★★★★☆
Happy Birthday, Samantha - ★★★★☆
Samantha Saves the Day - ★★★★★
Changes for Samantha - ★★★★☆
Samantha's Boxed Set - ★★★★☆

Best Friend Book:
Nellie's Promise - ★★★★★

Short Stories:
Samantha's Winter Party - ★★★★★
Samantha Saves the Wedding - ★★★★☆
Samantha and the Missing Pearls - ★★★★☆
Samantha's Blue Bicycle - ★★★★★
Samantha's Special Talent - ★★★☆☆
Samantha's Short Story Collection - ★★★★☆

Mystery Books (My Order):
The Curse of Ravenscourt - ★★★★★
The Stolen Sapphire - ★★★★☆
Clue in the Castle Tower - ★★★★☆
Danger in Paris - ★★★☆☆
The Cry of the Loon - ★★★★☆

Additional Historical and Activity Books:
Samantha's Cookbook - ★★★★★
Samantha's Cooking Studio - ★★★★★
Samantha's Craft Book - ★★★★★
Samantha's Friendship Fun - ★★★☆☆
Samantha's Ocean Liner Adventure - ★★★★★
Samantha's Theater Kit - ★★★★☆
Samantha's Valentine Crafts - ★★☆☆☆
Samantha's Wedding Memories - ★★☆☆☆
Samantha's World: A Girl's-eye View of the Turn of the Century - ★★★★★
The Titanic (American Girl: Real Stories From My Time) - ★★★☆☆
Welcome to Samantha's World · 1904 - ★★★★★

Beforever (Re-Release of Main Series in mid 2010s):
Manners & Mischief - ★★☆☆☆
Lost and Found - ★★★☆☆

Abridged Version (Re-Release of Main Series in 2020s):
Samantha: The Gift - ★★☆☆☆
Samantha: Lost and Found - ★★★★☆

Beginner Reader & Picture Books:
Samantha Helps a Friend (Step Into Reading) - ★★★☆☆
Happy Birthday! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆
Happy Holidays! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★★
Making a Difference (Little Golden Book) - ★★★☆☆
Time for School! (Little Golden Book) - ★★★★☆

[Dahl Kids · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun pop-up book. I can't wait to read the American Girl stories to the girls.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice. Didn't have as much information as the previous world book, however.