The documentary photos reveal the national disaster, hardship, courage and hope during the years of dust. Opening quotations and photographs are excellent.

I would recommend this book as an independent read for fourth and fifth graders. I would have the students work in a literary circle to discuss the images they have seen in the book. I would have the students be looking at this book while we are learning about the events leading up to the Dust Bowl, Great Depression, and World War two. Each day I would have one of the images from the book be displayed on the projector and I would have each of the students write a brief paragraph about any observations they see in the image. I will then ask for volunteers to explain what they believe they are seeing and after multiple students share, I will reveal the background of the image. With a fifth grade class, I would use this book to help illustrate how the farming techniques during the twenties and thirties damaged the environment. I will show them the changes the environment has went through during time period and have them make conclusions as to why the Dust Bowl occurred. Then the students will create an experiment where they will practice the same poor farming techniques that caused this disaster and make observations of how it was effecting this fake environment. I could also have the fourth and fifth graders use photography to tell a story about the environment they are living in similar to the way the book formatted its information and have them present their images to the class. ( )

This is an excellent book about the Dust Bowl that combines photographs taken during the era with text that covers the Homestead Act to the Dust Bowl and its aftermath. Sprinkled throughout the story of the Dust Bowl are also a few pages that give background on photojournalism and how Dust Bowl photographers, like Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans, were able to take photographs that showed both the anguish and the spirit of the American people. Each set of pages in the book includes two photographs and text about a specific topic, ranging from “Black Sunday” to “Arriving in California.” Quotations from people of the time period abound throughout the book and each new section is introduced by a related quotation. Sources used for these quotations and for the text in the book are cited in the back of the book. The back of the book also includes a list of books, web sites, and DVDs related to the topic and a map of the United States showing the Dust Bowl region. This book is highly recommended as an addition to libraries, as it is a very informative book about this significant time period in American history. ( )

This photo essay of the Dust Bowl will clearly bring into perspective for young readers the causes and implications of one of the greatest environmental disasters in United States history. The book chronicles the time from the Homestead Act of 1862 through the Dust Bowl era and its lingering aftermath. Filled with haunting images from photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, and Arthur Rothstein, it captures the Dust Bowl in a way that mere words cannot.

Here we witness the real importance of photojournalism, and the environmental impact that greed can bring onto a nation and its people. ( )

An excellent photo essay about the Dust Bowl. This is a concise and wonderfully-written history of agricultural life in the Midwest. It covers the time from the Homestead Act of 1862 through the Dust Bowl era and the ways in which photojournalism shaped the nation's response. Each page has unforgettable pictures taken by photographers like Dorothea Lange, Russell Lee, John Vachon and Arthur Rothstein. This book will bring the Dust Bowl desperation clearly into focus for students. ( )