A Kid's Guide to Washington, D.C.

We are from Puerto Rico and we bought this book for our little nine years old. She like it so much, she read it and all together learn about Washington DC. Our trip will be on July and the book was a very useful tool for that. We highly recommended, she said to us "Mom and Dad how interesting is Washington DC, I learned a lot of things and I want to be there." The book is a good preparation for kids and for us also...the trip will never be the same without this preparation.

My aunt from Florida was bringing her 8-year old granddaughter to DC for sightseeing. I sent her Miriam Chernick's book as a gift before they arrived so they could plan out their trip ahead of time. She absolutely loved it saying it was extremely helpful. She said she read much of it to her granddaughter prior to their visit and she said that the history was very easily understandable for this second grader. My aunt also found useful the highlights of what to see at each sight so that they weren't overwhelmed when they got to each attraction. They had so much fun doing the "Did You Know..." trivia part of each section that it added a dimension to her granddaughter's interest and understanding of the monuments and museums. Finally, my aunt said the book was so well organized that it made it a pleasure to use and made her trip to DC that much more relaxed and enjoyable! I plan to stock up on these books to give as gifts for folks who come to town so that I don't have to work so hard at playing tour guide because all the work is done for me by this terrific book!

I think I liked this book more than my children did. It does have alot of interesting facts and features. I recommend it for ages 8 to 11.

I bought a copy of this book for my three daughters to use while we were in DC. And it proved to be a hit. The book gives good information in an easy-to-understand format. The graphics and games were fun, and it kept them entertained on the plane ride there. They are telling me to give it a thumbs-up, so anything educational portrayed in a fun format gets my thumbs-up as well. The only criticism I have is that some of the information was outdated (the book was written 17 years ago, with no apparent updates) and is badly in need of a revision. Since 9-11, things have changed with some of the sites. Perhaps a short section explaining this to the kids, including why there has to be a security check in pretty much every building, would be in order. The Pentagon and FBI are not accessible at this time, and great limiations have been made at other buildings. Other than this shortcoming, though, the book is highly recommended.

This book is exactly the kind of book that will help your child realize the educational value of their vacation. We used it for three kids-- ages 12, 10 and 7. They liked it because it helped them remember special moments of the trip, and in the case of the 12 year old, "It was fill in the blanks!" It was a lot easier getting them to complete this book rather than writing in a journal. There were also tips and hints that I had not found in any of the other books I used for planning the trip. I highly recommend it!