Washington (From Sea to Shining Sea, Second) [Library Binding]

The first thing Christine Webster does in Introducing the Evergreen State, in Chapter One of this From Sea to Shining Sea, Second Series volume, is to point out that Washington is the only state in the Pacific Northwest that has both a rain forest and a desert. But the nickname still rings true because more than half the state is covered in forests. Having checked out Olympic National Park on the Olympic Peninsula the last time I visited Washington that seems to be something of an understatement. When Webster asks the standard question in the first chapter as to what comes to mind when you think of the state of Washington, most young students should be able to recognize the Space Needle, Mount St. Helens and Microsoft. The Grand Coulee Dam, Walla Walla's sweet onions, and the Orcas swimming off the coast of the San Juan Islands might be new information. But the point of these books is to fill in the gaps and increase your knowledge about the 50 states (plus Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.).

Chapter Two, The Land of Washington, is devoted to the diverse geography of this state in the northwest corner of the continental United States. Webster lays out the five land regions: the Coastal Range, the Puget Sound Lowlands, the Cascade Mountains, the Columbia Plateau, and the Rocky Mountains. Sections are also devoted to the plants and wildlife, the rivers and lakes, and the climate, which varies depending on what side of the Cascade Range you end up. Chapter Three, Washington Through History, starts off continuing the dual focus on the coastal Native Americans and the plateau or inland Native Americans who settled the area. This is followed by the European explorers who began arriving in the late 1700s and the Americans who populated the Oregon Territory in the middle of the 1800s (the Oregon Territory made up what are now the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming). In 1953 the Oregon territory was divided into Washington and Oregon, and Washington begins to have its own identity. Statehood comes in 1889, and Webster describes the new state as a land of plenty. Sections covering the 20th century touch on World War I and the Great Depression, the importance of the Boeing plant in Seattle during World War II, and Modern Washington, which covers both the World's Far of 1962 and the eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Chapter Four, Governing Washington, starts off with a brief description of the three branches of government (there actually are some interesting distinctions between some states on these, but it is usually in terms of the court systems), and then we go on a tour of Olympia, the state capital. The map of downtown Olympia highlights mostly government buildings like the Governor's Mansion and Temple of Justice, but there are also a couple of museums with the Washington State Capitol Museum and the Hands-On Children's Museum. Chapter Five, The People and Places of Washington, which looks at who lives where and what they do for work (manufacturing and food processing are the top two industries). You should not be surprised that the recipe for the state involves apples, but Funny Face Caramel Apples might be a surprise. The rest of the final chapter is a tour of the Evergreen State, starting in the east with the Grand Coulee Dam, moving on to the Yakama Nation Cultural Center and other things worth seeing in the central part, then getting to everything in and around Seattle (including a photograph that reminds Mariners fans that Ken Griffey, Jr., Alex Rodriguez, and Edgar Martinez no longer play for the team), and then Olympic National Park and the Orcas.

Webster provides even more information in the back of the book, starting with a Washington Almanac, which is two pages of statistics, product lists, and state symbols. This is followed by a Timeline with Washington state history above and U.S. history below, a Gallery of Famous Washingtonians that brings John Elway and Dixie Lee Ray together with Bing Crosby and Gary Larson. Young readers will also find a Glossary of key terms such as "conservation" and "perpendicular," and a page of web sites, books, and addresses that students can turn to For More Information. Throughout the book there are also informative sidebars devoted to Extra! Extra! tidbits (e.g., the Pig War), Who's Who in Washington (e.g., Chief Seattle, Bill Gates), Famous First (e.g, first U.S. jet), and explaining What's in a Name? (e.g., Walla Walla is a Native American word meaning "place of many water").

Consequently, students assigned to do a report on the state of Washington should find plenty of information here, or at least know what to go researching on the Internet, which is where I suppose the end up these days. Anyhow, here we are in Washington, the last of the 48-continental states that we have visited on our tour From Sea to Shining Sea. We started off in Maine in the northeast corner and are now in the northwest corner, and we have gotten here by going from state to state without doubling our tracks on this route (yes, this was carefully worked out before we moved from Maine to New Hampshire, not that you have any other option at that point, but you get the idea). However, now we have to pass through another country as we keeping heading north to get to our next stop Alaska, and then we get to cross the Pacific to end the tour.

This book is a great asset to any home school libary. It covers history, geography, the regions, economy, you name it of Washington State. I have the paperback version and it's actually very well put together and is standing up to my rough 9 year old boy quite well. He's even enjoying parts of the book and learning about our state.