Review of Cricket Media’s cobblestone,
Discover American History:
Preparing to Fight by Russ Chamberlayne
trigonometry and geometry as part
My teenage son, Sebastian,
and I were in our
pediatrician’s lobby and
I noticed COBBLESTONE
Magazine in the bookrack.

COBBLESTONE Magazine
is all about history.

Knowing Sebastian is a
huge lover of history, I
thought the colorful cover
of a poster of a World
War I soldier would be of
interest to him. He also just
finished reading, “All Quite
on the Western Front,”
a book that describes a
German soldier’s experience
during World War I.

So I asked him to put
down his phone (grumble,
grumble) and gave him
the magazine to read. He
thumbed through and
noticed “Mapping It”, “Cartoon
Connection” and some of the other
Departments and the articles on
World War I. He looked at the table
of contents and he had a lot of
articles from which to choose: from
“The Great War: An Overview” to
“The Final Push” to “A Deadly Flu”
to “Maker of Masks” plus more.

He chose the article “Preparing to
Fight.” Afterwards, I asked him
what he thought.

The story, he said, really put “All
Quiet on the Western Front” in
context. He was surprised to learn
that the U.S. troops weren’t really
ready to fight. They weren’t trained
for combat so it took a year for
U.S. troops to get to France and
help the Allies. He compared the
U.S. involvement in World War I to
his favorite sport: basketball. The
of his training. Sebastian doesn’t
like any mention of math in his
“free” time, and didn’t like this
aspect of military training.

When we finished our discussion,
Sebastian said, “That wasn’t so
bad.” In teenage speak, that means
we’ll be doing it again!
ABOUT COBBLESTONE
AND CRICKET MEDIA:
individual players don’t have to be
great but you have to have a deep
bench. Meaning if you play the same
five players throughout the game,
they’ll be exhausted at the end and
will probably lose. The U.S. troops
were the bench. They relieved the
exhausted French and British troops,
increased morale, and eventually the
Allies prevailed and won the war.

Sebastian said that moral of the
story was not to give up and
play your bench. Sebastian really
enjoyed the article, and other
aspects of the magazine. There
were cartoons throughout the
pages and a picture of a U.S. World
War I solider in his gear. He also
learned an interesting tidbit about
president Harry S. Truman, before
he became president. Truman,
who was a Missouri National
Guard artilleryman, had to learn
COBBLESTONE Magazine
published by Cricket Media
(Parents’ Choice Gold Award
Winner in 2017) transforms
history from a dry classroom
exercise into a living, breathing
guide to how Americans live,
work, play, and eat, from the
1600s to today. Filled with
fascinating stories, dramatic
photographs, and beautiful
illustrations, COBBLESTONE
excites imaginations and brings
the past to life for children
ages nine to 14.

Cricket Media, based in
McLean, VA and founded in
1973, publishes magazines
for children of all ages from
six months (babybug) to
15+ (CICADA). “At Cricket
Media, we believe that
challenging children’s minds
and connecting kids to learn
together does wonders for
their confidence, creativity and
curiosity. That’s why we are
dedicated to providing award-
winning media on a safe and
secure learning network to
engage, enlighten and educate
children everywhere.”
To subscribe to any of Cricket
Media’s 15 magazines go to
shop.cricketmedia.com. washingtonFAMILY.com
June 2017
35