Pledge of Allegiance

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Pledge Of Allegiance 2001
By: Scholastic Inc.
List Price: $3.99
Amazon Price: $0.50

Product Description
The text of the Pledge of Allegiance is illustrated with stunning photographs of American landscapes, monuments, and flags. The meaning of the pledge, its history, and information about the flag are included.

I Pledge Allegiance
By: Bill Jr Martin
List Price: $7.99
Amazon Price: $2.50

Product Description
"Finally, here's a picture book that helps young children move beyond rote recitation of the Pledge to find meaning in its language. This is the book parents and teachers have been waiting for." ? BOOKLIST (starred review)

"I led a pigeon to the flag" . . . "and to the wee puppet" . . . "one
nation, and a vegetable" . . . What was that again? Children in the United States have been reciting the Pledge of Allegiance since 1892 ? and for about that long, they've found its big words confusing. Now, beloved children's book author Bill Martin Jr (BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE?), fellow literacy expert Michael Sampson, and Caldecott Honor-winning artist Chris Raschka give America's children a hand, and explain this patriotic poem once and for all. A new paperback edition offers notes and suggested activities to help parents and teachers make this book even more interesting to and fun for children.

To the Flag: The Unlikely History of the Pledge of Allegiance
By: Richard J. Ellis
List Price: $15.95
Amazon Price: $8.95

Product Description
For over one hundred years, it has been deeply ingrained in American culture. Saluting the flag in public schools began as part of a national effort to Americanize immigrants, its final six words imbuing it with universal hope and breathtaking power. Now Richard Ellis unfurls the fascinating history of the Pledge of Allegiance and of the debates and controversies that have sometimes surrounded it.

For anyone who has ever recited those thirty-one words, To the Flag provides an unprecedented historical perspective on recent challenges to the Pledge. As engaging as it is informative, it traces the story from the Pledge's composition by Francis Bellamy in 1892 up to the Supreme Court's action in 2004 regarding atheist Michael Newdow's objection to the words "under God." Ellis is especially good at highlighting aspects of this story that might not be familiar to most readers: the schoolhouse flag movement, the codification of the Pledge at the First National Flag Conference in 1923, changing styles of salute, and the uses of the Pledge to quell public concerns over sundry strains of radicalism.

Created against the backdrop of rapid immigration, the Pledge has continued for over a century to be injected into American politics at times of heightened anxiety over the meaning of our national identity. Ellis analyzes the text of the Pledge to tell how the very words "indivisible" and "allegiance" were intended to invoke Civil War sentiments-and how "with liberty and justice for all" forms a capsule expression of the American creed. He also examines the introduction of "under God" as an anti-Communist declaration in the 1950s, demonstrating that the phrase is not mere ceremonial Deism but rather a profound expression of what has been called America's "civil religion."

The Pledge has inspired millions but has also been used to promote conformity and silence dissent-indeed its daily recitation in schools and legislatures tells us as much about our anxieties as a nation as they do about our highest ideals. Ellis reveals how, for over a century, those who have been most fearful about threats to our national identity have often been most insistent on the importance of patriotic rituals. Indeed, by addressing this inescapable paradox of our civic life, Ellis opens a new and unexpected window on the American soul.

The Pledge of Allegiance (First Facts: American Symbols)
By: Marc Tyler Nobleman
List Price: $6.95
Amazon Price: $3.40

Product Description
Revive an interest in the patriotic symbols of our nation! Kids learn the history and the importance of the plaes and things that symbolize freedom and democracy.

The Pledge of Allegiance (Welcome Books)
By: Lloyd G. Douglas
List Price: $4.95
Amazon Price: $1.78

Product Description
Emergent readers will discover the history and heritage of American symbos, such as the U.S. flag and the bald eagle, in this patriotic series. The text introduces American symbols and explains why they represent America.

I Pledge Allegiance (On My Own History)
By: June Swanson
List Price: $6.95
Amazon Price: $2.48

Product Description
Describes how and why the Pledge of Allegiance was written, how it has changed in wording over the years, and precisely what it means.

Reader's Theater: The Pledge Of Allegiance
By: Teacher Created Materials
List Price: $6.99
Amazon Price: $6.99

Our Pledge of Allegiance
By: Syl Sobel
List Price: $7.95
Amazon Price: $4.61

Product Description
Who wrote the Pledge of Allegiance? Why was it written? What does it mean?

Our Pledge of Allegiance tells the story behind the familiar words that schoolchildren learn and many recite every day. Written in clear and child-friendly language for readers in grades 3-6, the book also features children's illustrations that portray the Pledge from a child's perspective.

Syl Sobel is a former newspaper reporter, a lawyer, and director of communications for a government agency.

His daughters make their debut as illustrators with this book.

Other books by Syl Sobel:

How the U.S. Government Works (Barron's 1999)

The U.S. Constitution and You (Barron's 2001)

Presidential Elections and Other Cool Facts 2d ed. (Barron's 2001)

The Story of the Pledge of Allegiance: Discovering Our Nations Heritage (Disc...
By: John Hudson Tiner
List Price: $6.99
Amazon Price: $3.99

Product Description
This book is one in a series of books by award-winning author John Tiner for the middle elementary grades that will inform, delight, and inspire kids of all ages. These books give the factual background behind some of the great icons of American patriotism and history. Did you know that "In God We Trust" appeared on coins in America during the Civil War, but it was almost a century later before it was adopted by Congress as our national motto. "The Story of . . ." series is a perfect way to instill patriotic values into the oncoming generation.

I Pledge Allegiance Big Book
By: Bill Jr Martin
List Price: $24.99
Amazon Price: $9.59

Product Description
"Finally, here?s a picture book that helps young children move beyond rote recitation of the Pledge to find meaning in its language. This is the book parents and teachers have been waiting for." ?BOOKLIST (starred review)

"I led a pigeon to the flag" . . . "and to the wee puppet" . . . "one nation, and a vegetable" . . . What was that again? Children in the United States have been reciting the Pledge of Allegiance since 1892 ? and for about that long, they've found its big words confusing. Beloved children's book author Bill Martin Jr (BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE?), fellow literacy expert Michael Sampson, and Caldecott Honor-winning artist Chris Raschka give America's children a hand, and explain this patriotic poem once and for all.

• Hands
Peace, one and all? In recent weeks, according to WordPress, the most popular search term for my blog has been ?hands?. I love hands, both for what they are and also for what they represent: hands can reach out in greeting; hands hold the trusts of other in safety and surety. The open hand gives without thought of reward and the closed hand holds firmly to all its relationships. Hands stretch forth in supplication and hands are cleansed in readiness for prayer: ?O YOU who have attained to • Americans Support Mandatory Patriotism
If it weren?t for the fact that it?s unsurprising, this would be distressing: Seventy-seven percent (77%) of U.S. voters say school children should say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. (?) Voters are closely divided over whether students should be able to opt out of saying the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. Forty-four percent (44%) say they should be allowed to do so, but 47% disagree. Nine percent (9%) are • One nation indivisible, one town torn in two
One nation indivisible, one town torn in two Posted 02:34 PM ET Brian MacQuarrie The Boston Globe No one in this tiny community of 809 people can recall anything like the battle that has broken out over whether the Pledge of Allegiance should be recited in the classroom of a local school. • The Godless Generation?
USA Today religion reporter Cathy Lynn Grossman blogs today on how America?s Greatest Generation didn?t pledge ?under God?. Before reading her piece, keep in mind exactly what ?religion reporter? means, particularly one who writes for a national newspaper: it means a religion-hating, left-wing atheist. In Ms. Grossman?s case, such leanings are apparent from the title of her blog, which is ?Faith & Reason: A conversation about religion, spirituality and ethics.? In my experience, the juxtapositi • New Winter Classic Commercial Setting Hearts On Fire
Did you catch the above Winter Classic commerical during the Bears? loss last night? Because NBC played it during the game, and it was awesome. Fantastically awesome. And, as Puck Daddy asserts, the NHL is starting to figure out their marketing a bit better these days: A major failing for NHL marketing under Gary Bettman has been the NHL?s inability to relate its product to causal, mainstream sports fans that pledge their allegiance to other sports. It can?t sell violence to football fans.

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