First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Our Children Need to Know by E. D. Hirsch

Product Details

Synopsis

This revised edition of A First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy offers the common core of knowledge children should have by the end of grade school. E. D. Hirsch, author of the best-selling Cultural Literacy and co-author of The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, has updated his popular children's version for a generation that needs not only a solid grounding in the arts and sciences but a clear understanding of the world around them - from world geography to the World Wide Web. Inviting and informative, the book is organized by subject, including mythology, history, religion and philosophy, music, art, geography, medicine, technology, and many more. No other book gives children so much of the world, from ancient history to current technology, in one engaging volume.

Annotation

Presents an outline of the knowledge that, according to the Cultural Literacy Foundation, should be acquired by the end of sixth grade, in such categories as literature, religion and philosophy, history, geography, mathematics, science, and technology.

Joseph Shenkere

this dictionary is much less than it appears to be. Taken without its pretentious introduction and organization, the book is worthy of shelf space in the young reader's library -- just as a specialized crossword puzzle dictionary is useful for the crossword game. But beware of considering it as a trusty guide, index or dictionary for the pursuit of precise knowledge - for use by parent, teacher or child. And clearly, Mr. Hirsch's ''First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy'' is not a tool for a fulfilling, successful life. -- New York Times

Biography

E.D. Hirsch, Jr. is the Linden Kent Memorial Professor of English at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and the author of Cultural Literacy, The First Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, and The Core Knowledge Series. Dr. Hirsch is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has been a senior fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He is president of the Core Knowledge Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to educational reform.