The General Store (Historic Communities)

Young readers will discover why towns often sprang up around The General Store which was the heart of the community where goods were bought and traded, local news was reported, and people met to discuss weather, crops, and gossip. Lively photos, illustrations, and interesting text feature: - items sold at the store such as food, clothing, housewares, and farm equipment - the important role played by the storekeeper including postmaster, banker, and lawyer - the many forms of payment used - the storekeeper's system of record keeping

Grade 3-5. Useful for homework assignments on 18th- and 19th-century American life, these titles will also appeal to browsers. The typeface is easy to read and the attractive pictures supplement the text. General Store describes the appearance, contents, workings, and role of these businesses in the community. The full-color photos depict contemporary people performing tasks in re-created general stores on historical sites, e.g., Old Sturbridge Village. The text is full of fascinating details, such as the fact that people often took things home in barrels or cloth sacks because paper bags and cardboard boxes had not yet been invented. With a combination of full-color photos and illustrations, The Victorian Home provides information about these dwellings, examining exteriors, rooms, and furnishings. Readers learn that it was rude for a seated man to offer an entering female his chair, because the seat might be warm. Hence, parlors were crammed with chairs so that there would always be a "fresh" seat. These titles don't go into great depth, but they do give a broad overview of early American life interspersed with interesting facts.?Shauna Siebers, Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Fredericksburg, VA
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