Give the gift of history to the children in your family

Give the gift of history to the children in your family

America's youth suffer from a ' history deficit'

Grateful American Book Prize WASHINGTON, DC, — Those 'gotcha' moments on TV when young passersby are asked to name the first president of the U.S. and respond with quizzical looks may be funny. But, they expose the fact that American youngsters suffer from a history deficit.

'It's the reason the Grateful American Book Prize was created,' says David Bruce Smith, cofounder of the award. 'The Prize encourages authors and publishers to produce more works of historically accurate fiction and nonfiction for young learners and we feel compelled to encourage parents and grandparents to give the gift of history to the children in their lives this holiday season. Numerous studies have shown school children have a discouraging lack of knowledge of American history. Too many of them don't know even the basic facts about our nation's past, about the events that shaped America, the people who founded the country and those who built it, creating the world's first superpower. One survey of elementary school children revealed that 25% believed Columbus sailed to America sometime after 1750–not 1492.

Author and publisher Smith teamed up with Dr. Bruce Cole, former Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, to establish the Grateful American Book Prize. It's the first award of its kind that offers an incentive for new writers and established authors to focus on historically accurate books for children, novels and biographies that can bring history to life for kids.

'Our children are not stupid so there must be another reason for the widespread and appalling lack of the basic knowledge of who, why and how the nation was founded. If you ask the students, they are apt to tell you that history class is boring, that they don't get the connection between what happened then and what is happening now and that history books are dull. But maybe the real reason is that many schools don't even have history classes anymore; they cover that base nowadays with Social Studies and/or Civics classes using texts that provide the facts but do little to spark an interest in history,' according to Smith.

Smith notes that the odd thing is that as kids grow older, particularly when they are out of school, many develop a hankering for the past. They seek out history-based films and, more important, books about historical places, figures and accomplishments.

So, when you go shopping for holiday gifts this year, don't just go to the toy store; make a stop at your local book store while you are at it.'

From John Grimaldi