Alabama Facts and Symbols

"Alabama Facts and Symbols" is part of The State and Their Symbols series, which focuses on a specific aspect of American geography for young readers age 4-8. Emily McAuliffe's book provides detailed information about the state known as the Heart of Dixie (including the fact that it is known as the Heart of Dixie). The expecations of both students and teachers will be more than met by this informative little volume. The format in these books is that each "chapter" consists of a two-page spread with a photograph on the left and several paragraphs of text on the right. The opening chapter, which is actually opposite a simple map of the state, covers some basic Fast Facts, such as the largest city (Birmingham), size (52,423 square miles), and population (4,352,000 circa 1998). The rest of the book is devoted to look at the state's symbols in detail. This is where young readers learn about how Alabama got its name and nickname, the state seal and motto (the state seal shows a map of the state's largest rivers, which is certainly different), the state capitol and flag, and the state bird (the yellowhammer, which appears on the book's cover), tree (longleaf pine), flower (the camellia), and state animal (the racking horse, in particular). These pages includes interesting details such as the state capitol is made of Alabama sylacauga marble, that Alabama soldiers who fought in the Civil War were called yellowhammers, and that camellia plants bloom nine months of the year. The last chapter covers More State Symbols, including the state insect, mascot and butterfly, reptile, rock and saltwater fish. Having a mascot is an interesting thing for a state to have, and picking the eastern tiger swallowtail for a state mascot is interesting as well. In reading through this series what is interesting is finding out what various states consider important enough to make official symbols. That makes this series ideal for anyone who is interested in what states pick as their symbols and why. In the back of the book you will find a trio of Places to Visit (e.g., the NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center, a.k.a. Space Camp), a short list of Words to Know (e.g.,, "conifer"), and other sources where young readers can go to Read More about Rhode Island. There are also a couple of Useful Addresses and Internet Sites that can be contacted for even more additional information. Any student assigned to do a report on one of the fifty states (or Puerto Rico or Washington,D.C.), will find these 24-page books to be quite useful in fleshing out the symbols of these states much more than your standard geography books will do.