The Pledge of Allegiance was first recited on October 12, 1892 to celebrate the occasion of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America. The Pledge, by Jeffrey Owen Jones and Peter Meyer is a fascinating book full of intriguing information about that time in history, which sheds light on the “back story” to how the Pledge of Allegiance came to be.
I am always interested in the “ back-story”, the story behind the story which is akin to what Graham Green described as the “sliver of ice” that resides in the heart of writers, the thing that allows them to examine events with forensic analysis. Reading should inspire inquisitiveness and the following recommendations are sure to spark both a child’s and an adult’s curiosity. These books look at history from a personal point of view by giving you the story behind the story—the who, what, why and when. These books also capture the moment in childhood when the wider awareness of the world and wonder coexist.
~ A Little History of the World, E. H. Gombrich
~ What the World Eats, Faith D”Aluisio
~ A History of Us, Joy Hakim
~ We Were There, Too! Young People in U.S. History, Phillip Hoose
~ The American Story, Jennifer Armstrong
