Schoolhouse Review: Abraham's Journey

Inspiring the American Dream is working to help instill the passion for living the American dream in our children and grand children.  Let's face it, the American dream is in jeopardy because our current generation either does not understand that they can achieve it, or does not have the drive and determination to try.  Whatever the reason, the result is the same, our future generations need to be inspired and encouraged to live the American dream.  That is exactly what Inspiring the American Dream hopes to do through their children's book that I was given to review; Abraham's Journey: A Celebration of the American Dream

Abraham's Journey takes place during the Great Recession (which I suppose is the here and now).  It is Christmas time and Abraham finds out that because his parents have recently lost their jobs they will not be getting any presents at Christmas.  I have to say that I was immediately impressed that the book would start this way.  Our society seems to think getting presents at Christmas is a necessity, not a luxury.  I love that they tell the kids, there are no presents, rather than trying to find a way to get presents for free.  There is none of the "we deserve something no matter what the circumstances" mentality in this book.  I truly loved that. 

Abraham decides he wants to try to help his family have a special Christmas by buying presents himself.  Since he has no money, he has to find a way to get some so he begins texting his friends for help and this is where his journey begins.  Abraham finds himself warped into a virtual world at the hand of another very famous Abraham from the past.  Through his journey he meets great heros from the past and some famous business persons from the present like Martin Luther King Jr., Norman Rockwell, Amelia Earhart, and Bill and Melinda Gates.  Each person Abraham meets adds another point to his lesson about how to use entrepreneurial, free market principles to save Christmas for his family.

At the end of the book there is additional information about each character that Abraham meets along his journey.  I personally wish you could have learned more about them during the story.  It's hard to feel how truly inspired Abraham was by meeting these people if the reader knows so little about them.  I would also have preferred that some of his inspiration would have come from his faith in God. While faith may have been implied as important, I did not quite feel that it was really stressed and to me the American dream is not complete without it.  Still, it was a touching story with a sweet ending.  I did like how they share that the American dream is not realized until we share the dream with others.

The book is about 30 pages long.  I would say that this would be a good book for kids in upper elementary school, like Gess, although I am sure any child would love having it read to them.  The font in the book was fairly standard size.  Gess was able to read it even with her vision problems but preferred it when she had help. Here is a sample so you can see what the font looks like on the page. Usually if there is this much text on one page the next page has only a graphic.

When I asked her what her favorite part of the book was Gess said "when he wanted to save Christmas."  Yep, I am sure all kids would love a story where someone saves one of the most endearing holidays of all time.

Abraham's Journey: A Celebration of the American Dream can be purchased for $14.99. I personally would not choose to pay that much for such a short book, but it does have a message that is not readily available in books at your local book store or library so that may make it more worthwhile to some people.  To learn more about the book visit the Inspiring the American Dream's website or see what other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew thought about it by clicking on the banner below.

Disclaimer in accordance with FTC Regulations: As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew I received a copy of the book Abraham's Journey: A Celebration of the American Dream for giving my personal, honest opinion and assessment of it in my review. It was not required to be a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Note: All pricing is current at the time of posting and is subject to change