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HOW WE NAMED OUR STATES by

HOW WE NAMED OUR STATES

By

Pub Date: Sept. 1st, 1965
Publisher: Criterion

Although the general interest and the ordinary curriculum tie-in indicates an 8-11 age readership, the vocabulary employed puts this up to the 11-13 level. Each state gets its own short story. The story does not always include how it got its name or what the name may mean. For instance, under Arkansas, there is the fact that French priests provided the name, but not where they got it or what it stands for. Under Florida, which may seem self-explanatory to adult eyes, there is no attempt to explain why the Spanish called it this or when it got the designation and who applied it. The book chats along, offering a welter of settler history, facts and figures for each state, but how states got names is buried in the body of the sketch at different points with no indications from the galley that marginalia or raised type will allow the speedy discovery promised in the title. The fact that the book is not arranged in alphabetical order but by English, French and Spanish settlement also obviates its use as a quick reference tool without enhancing its potential for reading or browsing pleasure.