Finding Family Treasure
The Children’s Book Review
Finding Family Treasure provides a much-needed reminder that we are more alike than we are different. … At the same time, parents and educators will love how history is woven throughout this story in thrilling vignettes that will capture the attention of students. You won’t want to miss this wonderfully crafted story!
—Tara R. Alemany, author, and former homeschooling mom.
About the Book
Finding Family Treasure
Written by K. I. Knight and Jane R. Wood
Ages 7 and Up | 142 Pages
Publisher: Melting Pot Press LLC | ISBN-13: 9781737337102
Publisher’s Synopsis: “Who are we?” Ms. Johansson asks her class of fifth graders. Her perplexed students soon discover the lesson she wants them to learn. While studying the founding of their country, the class is challenged to understand the melting pot that makes up the American people-both past and present.
With the help of a genealogist, students learn to navigate websites that introduce them to written records that have documented their families’ histories. Because the class is comprised of students with roots to many nationalities and ethnic groups, including African American, Native American, Mexican, Cuban, Irish, Italian, Polish, Scandinavian, Lebanese, and Japanese immigrants, the diversity in their own class becomes apparent.
To assist in their research, the teacher gives the students an assignment of interviewing their parents and grandparents, to learn more about the members of their families. One by one, the young people hear family stories connecting them to America’s earliest immigrants and settlers. The students also learn about historical events their ancestors witnessed or experienced, including the early settlement of Virginia, the American Revolution, the Underground Railroad, the Trail of Tears, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, early immigration processing at Ellis Island, the Tuskegee Airmen, and the Holocaust.
As the story unfolds, some personal conflicts occur among the students, long-standing family tensions surface, and intergenerational relationships evolve. Complex issues such as privacy, adoption, diversity, immigration, slavery, and antisemitism are addressed in an age-appropriate manner.
Excited by what they have discovered, the students plan a program to share their findings with their families. Working together in small groups, they create a slide presentation of vintage photographs, a fashion show demonstrating various ethnic attire, music and food from different cultures, and visual displays showcasing military medals, artifacts, musical instruments, and family heirlooms.
Their family history project further inspires the students to want to do something more to honor past generations. With the help of a cemetery preservationist, they plan a clean-up day at a local graveyard in need of attention. Parents, grandparents, brothers, and sisters join the class on a Saturday to help restore the final resting place of those who came before them.
As a result of their research project, the students not only discover personal connections to the past but also, in some cases, to each other.
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Connect with the Authors and Learn More
About the K. I. Knight
Kathryn Knight, who uses the pen name K I Knight, is an international award-winning Author, Genetic Genealogist, American Historian, Keynote Speaker, and Cemetery Preservationist. Over the last thirteen years, Knight has documented more than 20,000 hours researching the first recorded Africans to arrive in the English settlement of Virginia in 1619. Her passion is unrivaled and strongly evident in her published writings.
Her literary work includes Fate & Freedom, a five star – Gold medal historical trilogy detailing the lives of the 1619 Africans, as well as her nonfiction work, Unveiled – The Twenty and Odd, for which she was awarded the Phillis Wheatley Literary Award by the Sons and Daughters of the US Middle Passage.
Knight is a board member for several National Non-profit organizations and the member of numerous Genealogy, Historical and Literary Societies including the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society, Florida State Genealogy Society, Virginia Genealogy Society, Virginia Historical Society, Florida Historical Society, American Historical Association, Genealogy Speakers Guild, Association of Professional Genealogists, the Alliance of Independent Authors, the National Association of Professional Women, and the Director of 1619 Genealogy. The mother of three adult children, Knight, lives in North Florida with her husband, Tom.
For more information, visit firstfreedompublishing.com.
About the Jane R. Wood
Jane R. Wood is the author of five award-winning juvenile fiction books where she weaves history and science into stories filled with mystery, adventure, and humor for young readers ages 8-14. Students like her books because they’re fun. Teachers like them for their educational value. Wood is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and television producer. She has a BA from the University of Florida and an MEd from the University of North Florida. Wood lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and is the mother of two grown sons and five grandchildren.
To learn more about her and her books, go to her website at janewoodbooks.com.
24 Comments
Great addition to the family’s keepsake library.
my grandkids would enjoy this book at my house
I would love to win this for my sons classroom.
I have an inhome daycare and my kiddos love books. I would love to win this to read to them. 😁😁😁
I would love to win this to read 📚 to my daycare kiddos 😍 they love ❤ books 📚.
I remember doing interviews for a history class in junior high school. This book reminds me of getting to know your roots and your neighbors. It makes history come to life.
I have a 4 year old grandson, and getting ready to have a granddaughter in July. I would love to have this book for them
my kids would like this book.
this would be a very special book
My daughter is in 5th grade and would love this – and we’d both love to learn more about our family history!
Diversity is a strength to be explored and praised at how our differences can bring us together.
Excited to open a world of reading with my son who just discovered reading on his own. This would be a great reader.
this would be great fun and interesting book
I love going treasure Hunting ….
This would be a fun read for my great niece
would be a fun book great niece would love this
good learning book zay would like
interesting book kids would enjoy
something a lot of kid would like to know
When my kids were in elementary school, our PTO had an event where the country of one of the International kids in their class was highlighted. There were passports to stamp, dances to watch and maps to explore. My girlfriend and I were in charge of tasting food from different Chinese restaurants through a book, Ethnic Eats. We chose Green Beans with Black Bean Sauce and Sweet Buns with Bean Paste. International Night was a success and tasted good, too.
I think this would be a fun and interesting book for zay
sounds like a fun book
sounds like a interesting book
Zay would really like this book