Inspiring the American Dream is a company with a passion for teaching children about the American Dream. They define the American dream as "an ideal in which the individual, through courage, hard work and determination, could become whatever they aspired to be, creating a 'better way of life' for themselves and their family."
In order to teach these lessons, they have recently published the book Abraham's Journey: A Celebration of the American Dream. In the short picture book, a young boy travels back in time meeting such historical figures as Abraham Lincoln, Amelia Earhart, Martin Luther King, Jr, and even modern icons such as Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. Through his adventures, Abraham finds he has a talent for painting, and he eventually sells enough paintings to provide both Christmas gifts for his family and donations to a local homeless shelter.
Our family found this book to be a good conversation starter, but not necessarily a complete book that I could've just handed my children to read. Both Addison (14) and Brennan (12) grasped the main concepts of the book, especially the idea of working hard for something instead of just complaining about not having it. Both of them, however, thought that the book could've done a better job of showing how hard Abraham had to work along the way. Because the plot of the story moves rather quickly, they both thought that the book made it look too easy for him to make money selling his paintings.
Addison thought that the idea behind Abraham's Journey would've been more effective if the book had been expanded. She suggests making it into a short chapter book, closer to 80 pages than the 32 pages it is now. She thinks the characters Abraham meets along the way could be better introduced in a longer book. For instance, she had to tell her brother that Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook because he hadn't read the biographical information following the main story.
This story is most appropriate for 8 - 12 year olds because of the subject material. Lauren, our first grader, does not have the background knowledge to appreciate Abraham meeting the famous Americans.
Abraham's Journey: A Celebration of the American Dream sells for $14.99 (plus $5 shipping). Right now, the authors are offering to sign each copy of the book you purchase. A Kindle version of the book is also available from Amazon for $9.99.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of Abraham's Journey as a member of the 2012 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC regulations.
Turning it into a longer/chapter book is a great idea. I agree that it didn't seem to show him working, or enough about the figures he met. Maybe a chapter per person, rather than only the equivalent of a page or two, would help fill in the gaps.
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