Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Mexican States. 2nd ed. Detroit, Mich.: U*X*L Thomson Gale, 2007. 423 p. $67.00. ISBN 10: 1-4144-1112-X; 1-4144-1112-5 .

Whether Mexico is a major part of the elementary curriculum, many students in our schools have roots in Mexico. The reported items are numbered in each chapter and this will be useful to students who want to compare one state to another. Chapters begin with a black and white reproduction of the coat of arms, pronunciation and origin of the name, capital, entered country, holidays, time, and a description of the coat of arms. A black and white map of the state indicates the state capital and some other cities and some black and white photographs illustrate the text. The articles under each of the 26 headings are very brief and the vocabulary would challenge a lower elementary student. This provides a very brief introduction to the states, but will be a useful reference for students to check what they find on the web for accuracy. Articles end with a brief bibliography, and the appendix includes a 16-page glossary. Front end papers have a map of Mexico and in the back, the Mexican flag and the national seal and each state’s coat of arms are shown in color.