Colorful, fascinating portraits of 50 kids in 50 states.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 8+?
Any Positive Content?
Violence & Scariness
a little
Bad things have happened to some kids in the past, like the death of a parent, homelessness, loss, and life-threatening illness, but in the present they're speaking from a place of more comfort and safety. Some kids are into fishing, hunting, and gutting and chopping up their catch.
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Offers a window into the lives of 50 kids in all 50 of the United States of America, the authors also deliver a lot of information about city life, country life, music, foods and traditions from different lands and cultures, etc. Also, young readers will learn about activities and possibilities they may have never learned about — maybe fencing, chess, classical music, flying airplanes, or singing show tunes. In the process, each portrait conveys a bit about the state, and what it's like to live there.
Positive Messages
a lot
Strong messages of family love, whatever your family looks like, being who you are, following your interests, looking out for your loved ones and showing that love in daily life. Recognizing that people who may or may not look like you, or live in a place like the one you live in, are into a lot of the same things you are.
Positive Role Models
a lot
All the kids, in their different ways, are open, engaging, and matter-of-fact about themselves and their lives, without labels, judgment, or preaching — e.g. one kid is into hunting and talks about that, and another is into animal rescue, and while one girl says she likes making protest signs, the authors are silent on the content. Parents — single, couples, gay, straight, birth, adoptive — and parental figures are very diverse in their origins, work, interests, and beliefs, but all are a strong, loving presence in the kids' lives. The authors show a rare clarity and even-handedness in letting the kids speak for themselves without interference or editorializing.
Diverse Representations
a lot
Each profile offers (often surprising) chances to see interests you might have in common with people whose lives are very different from yours, and lets each kid open a window on their world as they see it themselves, without any judgment, labeling, or editorializing from the authors. As explained and illustrated in the afterword, the 50 diverse, complex kids closely reflect demographic data (race/ethnicity of kids and their parents, religion, family structure, gender identity, school, family income, housing type, etc.) from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Pew Research Center from 2014 to 2022. One data point: adults who identify as multiracial are fairly rare, but multiracial families, and kids who identify as multiracial, appear frequently, and blending different cultural (and food) traditions is a recurring theme.
Parents need to know that All About U.S.: A Look at the Lives of 50 Real Kids from Across the United States, by Matt LaMothe (This Is How We Do It) and Jenny Volvovski, is an instant classic, a collection of short, gorgeously illustrated vignettes spotlighting kids ages 5-11 in the United States. There's no such thing as a typical kid, and often a featured kid will not reflect the prevailing stereotypes associated with their state, but as they speak for themselves on their own terms about what their lives are like, they reflect a richness and diversity of experience that's a revelation to kids and adults alike. As an afterword notes, the kids' demographics map closely to those of the U.S. as seen in census and other data—ethnicity, gender, family structure, disability, school, living situation, religion, etc. Following the sun westward, the book opens on the coast of Maine with Hannah, whose family are fishermen and who dreams of salmon fishing in Alaska, and ends in Alaska with Lydia, helping out with her Indigenous family's salmon harvest. In between, you'll meet a lot of unforgettable kids, discover unexpected things you might have in common with them, and probably find out things are possible that you never thought about before.
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What's the Story?
ALL ABOUT U.S. opens as the sun rises on the East Coast, visiting with Hannah in Maine as she helps her fisherman family, moves to Lielle in Massachusetts as she and her family walk to the synagogue for Shabbat, visits Ramon in Rhode Island who's into cars and loves his Hot Wheels.... By the time the sun has reached the Pacific and set on Hi'ilani in Hawaii and Lydia in Alaska, we've met 50 kids inviting us into their lives and sharing their interests—fencing! chess! classical music! flying planes! Legos! Also challenges—for some families, money is tight, while other kids are dealing with disabilities, life-threatening illness, recent homelessness, and long separations from parents who work far away. Everybody's different—and it's often surprising what they have in common with each of us, and each other.
Reflecting the complexity and diversity of U.S families by spotlighting real people, this heart-filled, matter-of-fact instant classic offers a window into the lives and interests of 50 kids in 50 states. The engaging All About U.S. lets a diverse range of kids 5-11 talk about their lives; bringing their words vividly to life in colorful, upbeat illustrations, the authors let the stories speak for themselves and allow readers (young and old) to draw their own conclusions. Readers young and old will find a lot that's new to them as kids do interesting things (flying planes! dancing at powwows! helping with the family summer camp!), face big challenges (loss, disability, money issues)—and probably have surprising things in common with their own lives. There's a lot to take in here, and repeat visits will be rewarded.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the different states that make up the U.S.A., and how people's lives are different (or the same) there. Does reading about real kids' lives in books like All About U.S. make you want to do things you don't see people doing where you live? Like what? How could you get started on that new interest?
Have you ever traveled to a place different from the one you lived in and been surprised by what it was like? What did you notice and how did you feel about it?
Of the 50 kids we see here, which kids do you find most appealing or interesting, and maybe wish you knew better? Who and why?
Does reading about how different kids live build your empathy for other people's experiences? If so, how? If not, why not?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
suggesting a diversity update.
All About U.S.: A Look at the Lives of 50 Real Kids from Across the United States
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
By Mary Eisenhart
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
