Kitchen Table Reviews: Go, Go America
This wacky book is a fun way for kids to learn facts about all 50 states.
Go, Go America by Dan Yaccarino
Pretty soon we’ll be wrapping up our summer travel and heading back to school (I can hardly believe it), but I wanted to do one last travel book with the kids before we did. I thought Go, Go America would be a perfect way for the kids to start thinking about which states they might like to visit in the future.
Me: So, did reading this help you decide where you might like to visit next?
Daughter: Yes. I want to go to Hawaii.
Me: Because of something you read in this book…?
Daughter: No, I just think I’d like Hawaii.
Me: …
Daughter: Uh, I mean, yes! Of course because of something I read in this book! Because, um, well, look right here—Hawaii is world renowned for its surfing, and also they have a paper airplane museum! Doesn’t that look cool?
Son: Yeah, I wanna go to that museum. But mostly I want to go places and see if breaking these weird laws will really get you into trouble.
Me: Oh, really? Give me an example.
Son: Well, like, you can’t fish from the back of a camel in Idaho. If we got a camel and tried that, do you really think they would arrest us?
Me: I don’t know. Where would we get a camel?
Daughter: My favorite one was that it’s illegal to tickle a girl in Norton, Virginia. Or wait, maybe it’s that it’s illegal to tie your giraffe to a telephone pole in Atlanta! Ha!
Me: I wondered about some of these. Like, dogs in Little Rock can’t bark after 6:00 p.m. and frogs in Memphis can’t croak after 11. How do they stop that, exactly?
Son: Duct tape!
Me: Heh. Maybe! Mostly I just thought this book was a lot of fun, and I loved how the index at the back is an easy way to find a state and the basic stats on it, like the capital, motto, tree, flower, that sort of thing.
Daughter: We can use it while we’re practicing our state capitals.
Son: I liked finding Bigfoot hiding in the pictures. That was funny. A lot of the pictures were funny, actually.
Me: Did reading this get you excited to go visit some new states?
Daughter: Absolutely. But I still want to go to Hawaii. And now I know it’s illegal to put coins in your ears, there.
Good to know.
Pros: Fun and interesting tidbits about all 50 states. Handy index for specific information. Retro graphics and layout make for fun for the kids and nostalgia for the adults.
Cons: We wanted more information—why/where did all of those weird laws originate? No ethnic diversity in the illustrations. Bigfoot may lurk amongst the pages, but he’s decidedly un-scary looking.
It may not be a definitive guide to the United States, but Go, Go America gets three thumbs up from our kitchen table as a fun read about both some of the basic and more obscure facts about our 50 states!
