The family is moving across the country to live on a new base. Lil'M is worried that she will miss her best friend, and worried that it will be hard to make new friends when she arrives at her new home. Help children to understand and develop an appreciation for cultural diversity and foster a positive outlook toward the adventures of relocation.

Have you ever wondered why the American colors are red, white, and blue? Did you know that our national mascot was almost a turkey rather than a bald eagle? Can you trace your family's ancestry back to the Mayflower Pilgrims, or perhaps to a cowboy of the Old West? Do you think you would like to spend Thanksgiving watching footraces rather than televised football or eating venison and oysters rather than turkey? Many of us have played with Lincoln Logs, but did you know that they were named after President Abraham Lincoln, who was born in a log cabin? Symbols have always played a crucial role in shaping our identity as a country. The American buffalo, the Statue of Liberty, the Mayflower, and Uncle Sam himself have all helped convey to the world the American values of liberty and democracy. Delno and Jean West's lively prose unveils the stories behind America's symbols, complemented by Christopher Manson's handsome woodcuts, which perfectly convey the rugged individualism of the American spirit.

Uncle Sam's Victory Garden tells the true story of 10-year-old Sam Podnetsky, who, like thousands of children throughout the United States, was recruited through school to plant a "war garden" (such gardens were later called "victory gardens") to make sure that his family and his neighbors didn't starve during World War I. At the time, America's farm food was being sent overseas to American soldiers. To make sure that there was enough food back home, elementary school children living in cities throughout the United States were given plots of land in parks and public spaces and were taught how to grow vegetables. In Hartford, Connecticut, children were assigned to 8-by-20-foot plots of land in Colt Park. To give the children extra incentive, contests were held with prizes awarded for the best vegetables. This is a feel-good patriotic story that promotes collaboration, reading to gain knowledge, American know-how, compassion, child empowerment, diversity, agriculture, and the value of hard work. As for Sam, he became a lifelong gardener, and he lived to be 101.

Sam Cooke. His silky voice, dashing smile, and laundry list of hit records have managed to withstand the test of time. Now the extraordinary life of The Man Who Invented Soul Music is remembered by those who knew him best: Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story From His Family's Perspective Available for the first time in print... Sam Cooke's great-nephew Erik Greene has compiled cherished memories and personal photos celebrating the private life of this legendary superstar. Sam's family reveals how his sparkling personality, captivating presence and enormous generosity not only made him a popular entertainer in the music industry, but a favorite within the family as well.

The roots of American globalization can be found in the War of 1898. Then, as today, the United States actively engaged in globalizing its economic order, itspolitical institutions, and its values. Thomas Schoonover argues that this drive to expand political and cultural reach -- the quest for wealth, missionary fulfillment, security, power, and prestige -- was inherited by the United States from Europe, especially Spain and Great Britain. Uncle Sam's War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization is a pathbreaking work of history that examines U.S. growth from its early nationhood to its first major military conflict on the world stage, also known as the Spanish-American War. As the new nation's military, industrial, and economic strength developed, the United States created policies designed to protect itself from challenges beyond its borders. According to Schoonover, a surge in U.S. activity in the Gulf-Caribbean and in Central America in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was catalyzed by the same avarice and competitiveness that motivated the European adventurers to seek a route to Asia centuries earlier. Addressing the basic chronology and themes of the first century of the nation's expansion, Schoonover locates the origins of the U.S. goal of globalization. U.S. involvement in the War of 1898 reflects many of the fundamental patterns in our national history -- exploration and discovery, labor exploitation, violence, racism, class conflict, and concern for security -- that many believe shaped America's course in the twentieth and twenty-first century.

"An exporation of the origins and history of Uncle Sam and the real man, Samuel Wilson, who inspired this beloved symbol of America"--Provided by publisher.