Kids Are Americans Too
ISBN:9780060846770 read summary

I'm a thirteen year old homeschooler. The people who think Mr. O' Reilly is a dimwit really shouldn't be talking. What, are you pinheads jealous because your kids are too pinheaded to understand this book? This book talks about the rights of children. It mentions various court cases, and is very enjoyable to read. For the pinheads who says this book makes you dumber, I'm one hundred percent confused. How could a book that clarifies laws make you dumber?

Especially if you are interested in politics and like the Factor, this is a great book.



Caution.... the spin stops right here.

Thank goodness I found this book at Goodwill and paid only a dollar; I will be re-donating it shortly. I'm very interested in our founding documents and how to teach children about them, which is why I picked up the book. I read it in about an hour, as the book's 160 pages with large print aren't exactly content heavy. No, this book falls under the "fluff" category.

O'Reilly is condescending, glosses over the cases he uses as examples (and doesn't relate the cases to particular rights or amendments), and has no references to getting more info about subjects or cases mentioned (except to direct readers to HIS website.) The end of the book is sorely missing what one would expect from this genre: there is no index, no recommending reading, and no works cited. The book doesn't even list the Bill of Rights specifically until the very end!

If you want a book that explains the Bill of Rights to children, buy "A Kids' Guide to America's Bill of Rights: Curfews, Censorship, and the 100-Pound Giant" by Kathleen Krull. It presents the Bill of Rights at the very beginning, very specifically talks about what each amendment means, and discusses related court cases as they pertain to each amendment. Krull's book additionally doesn't dumb down the message, nor does she talk down to children as if they were naughty morons, as O'Reilly does. Krull's book shines where O'Reilly's book fails miserably.

I read this book in one sitting (on the toilet). When Mr. O'Reilly isn't playing with falafels and loofahs and harassing women over the phone or getting his ass kicked by Snoop Dogg, he writes terrible books. In this book, which is catered to people who are aged nine to twelve (unlike his other books which are for people whose IQ are nine to twelve) Mr. O'Reilly tells kids that they are Americans too, particularly if they were born in this fine land. As if to emphasize the importance of his message, the word "too" is ingeniously written in red and sort of slanted. This shows that Mr. O'Reilly is hip and that kids can trust him. He then goes on the rail against liberals and the ACLU (which undoubtedly is on every nine to twelve year old's mind) and how gay people are bad. He also says that Wiccans are evil because they aren't Catholic.

That being said, I did read the whole book. My ex is an O'Riley-bot and got my 9 yr old sons both books. I think it's important to see what's in it. I figured, it can't all be bad.
And it wasn't all bad. There's a good simply put view of what the supreme court does in there. And by showcasing court battles involving kids, he makes it more appealing and more relevant to them.
His points about justice taking time and often being unclear are good also.
HOWEVER. The book IS "thin" as someone else said. A real light weight tome in size, spacing and contact. The pop culture references will ensure it has a short shelf life, enabling O'Riley to make more money when he 'updates' the book later.

He tries very hard to look hip. Very hard. Remember when you were a kid watching something on TV with the rents and a sex scene came up? And you felt embarassed to be watching it in front of them? That's how I felt reading most of this book. Discomfort. O'Riley writing rap lyrics??!! Quizzes with stupid answers??!! O'Riley dressed as a 'Supreme" (his word)??!!

He wishes. And he does come off sounding pompous in his pretend conversations with the reader.

His sly comments putting down the ACLU were uncool also.

Bottom line...not the best book. The important stuff here can be learned elsewhere, without the garbage.

And now I must go read "The O'Riley Factor for Kids." Pity me my lot, my friends, pity me.

I thought the court order was clear enough?

The "Are you over 13?" question at the top of the reviews has an extra special place here.