Website Review: Disability History Museum

THE DISABILITY HISTORY MUSEUM website hosts a digital collection, educational materials, and museum exhibits exploring the historical experience of people with disabilities and their communities.

The Library Collections section contains a broad range of digital objects including letters, memoirs, chapbooks, postcards, photos, cartoons, and more that shaped the experiences of people with disabilities. Users can browse by category or search the collection.

The Education section provides ideas for teaching with primary sources. The materials explore ways to weave disability history topics into history, civics, and literature classes. After exploring an overview, users can examine lesson plans and other teaching tools of interest.

The Exhibits section is currently under development.

With over 3,000 primary source documents and images to explore, librarians will find this website to be an excellent tool for weaving the historical experiences of people with disabilities into the curriculum through the use of primary sources.

To visit the website, go to http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/.

Book Review: 125 Wacky Roadside Attractions

125 WACKY ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS by National Geographic Kids shares strange and bizarre landmarks from around the world.

Part of the 125 AMAZING STORIES collection, this book features dozens of peculiar places. After a short introduction, children can explore a world map showing the location of each destination. Next, the book jumps into displaying a photograph and information about each place including what it is, where it is, and special features. While some sections of the book explore categories such as loony lodging or kooky collections, most of the landmarks seem to be presented at random. While this approach lends itself to browsing, it may be disorienting for children interested in a particular type of location such as museums, gardens, or works of art. An index helps those seeking attractions in specific locations such as Oklahoma.

From weird sculptures to amazing collections, this colorful, informational book for middle grades will be a hit with youth who enjoy browsing. Weave the book into a display featuring travel books and fictional road trip titles.

Published by National Geographic Kids on May 10, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.