Why don't these books shell out a few books and have them fact checked by experts like me? Or get better writers because the people who put these books together don't seem to know the correct facts (they obviously cribbed them from other incorrect books).

As the information can be helpful or insightful to one, it is also a discredit to the artist. Far too much of this information is inaccurate. While there may be some truth to one statement, the next line may be totally off base. Hopefully many of these blunders will be corrected in the next edition.

This includes a disproportionately hefty dose of hip-hop and rap albums, which makes sense, considering the intense recent cross-pollination of hip hop with cheesy quiet storm "soul" (which is also heavily emphasized in this volume). However, the emphasis is clearly more contemporary than historical -- for example, the reference sidebars are entitled "Word Up!", which seems tacky as well as rather dated. Modern artists such as Bobby Brown, Sheena Easton, and Toni Braxton get equal -- if not superior -- billing with soul music touchstones such as Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and the Stax/Volt and Motown crowds. Very few pre-rock artists are included -- Cab Calloway and Big Joe Turner make it in, for example, but not Buddy Johnson or Floyd Dixon, and several classic 60s soul stars such as Garnett Mimms are also omitted. Finally, while most of the big-name blues shouters such as Wynonie Harris, Amos Milburn and Louis Jordan have entries, practically none of their great gospel counterparts are included. This really is a disgrace, as well as a short-sighted, culturally revisionist nod to contemporary tastes (which do not embrace the preachin' and shoutin' religious side of African-American music). Rest assured that without Bessie Griffin, Clara Ward, the Soul Stirrers, or Rev. James Cleveland, there would never have been a BeBe Winans, Mariah Carey or Aretha Franklin -- much less a Parliament, Lauryn Hill or KRS-1. As with other MusicHound books, this also provides useful appendices, including fan sites, etc., and the companion CD is a nice (if stingy) sampler of some of gems from the Mercury Records catalog. But if Wu Tang or Billy Oceans are not your "R&B" thing, you may wish to be wary of this tome.

I read this book, from our school library, to a class of third-graders. We are located near Plymouth and I read this as a prelude to our class trip to Plimoth Plantation.

It was interesting and gave some good insights into life in Plymouth in 1626. However, there were a couple of glaring errors. The boy in the story spoke of a visit from Squanto. This would have been impossible since Squanto died in 1622. Also, the author refers to the Pilgrims as Puritans in two or three different places in the story. The Pilgrims who came here for religious reasons refered to themselves as "Saints." The Puritans came to Massachusetts in 1630. The author should also explain, in the story, why March 25th was considered to be "New Year's Day." On March 25th, the date in the journal changed from 1626 to 1627.

The artwork was very interesting, presented in the form of woodcuts. This was tied into the story as the boy telling the story was making these woodcuts.

It's an interesting story and very informative. I would recommend this book to anyoe who would like to see what life was like in "Olde Plimoth."