Welcome to Molly's World · 1944: Growing Up in World Wa… (2024)

With so many illustrations and stories, you don't feel at all like you're being taught about WWII. Really love this series and found this book wonderful. I wish that they hadn't discontinued Molly and hope they bring her back someday so I can go back and explore her world all over again with doll in hand. :) Just enough facts, just enough pictures to make this whole book work really really well. Very highly recommended, especially while homeschooling!

Really thought this was a fantastic resource for WWII information for children. I even learned a thing or two from this. The book has large spreads with lots of pictures and blurbs based on different topics pertaining to life during the early 1940s. You do not need to be interested in American Girls at all since this is only very loosely related back to Molly from American Girls.

I love the World books. This one was very heavy on the war things, even in everyday life. But that really makes one understand how much the war affected everything; even the normal things, from underwear to your dog. Had a good overview of the European theatre, but needed more on the Pacific side.

Generally does a pretty decent job of summarizing life on the homefront. The coverage of the Holocaust doesn't sit comfortably with me, though. The subject is entirely absent from Molly's books, which is somewhat understandable. They're homefront stories set in a nominally Christian household, after all. But the World books often have a much larger scope than what the girls themselves would have experienced. And really, there was just one thing about the two pages dedicated to the Holocaust that made me actively uncomfortable: there's a picture of a young girl wearing a yellow star, and she isn't identified. I'm sure her name is known, and so is what happened to her. I just feel like it would have been so much more powerful if she'd been identified by name and we'd been told what had become of her, whatever that might have been.

Does a good job of portraying everyday life for people like Molly and her family (white, small-town, middle class American Christians). Excellent source of information, if that's the population you're interested in learning about. Black Americans are mentioned in two sentences about job inequality. There are a few pictures that include Black Americans but no attention given to the roles Blacks played in the military and civilian roles during the war. Japanese Americans get three sentences and no pictures. Detailed information about clothing styles, children's toys, and entertainment. A full spread about women's professional baseball during the war, as well as spreads about women pilots, and army nurses. Good information, if the reader is aware enough of what's missing to take it with a grain of salt.

I really like learning about how things were during World War II and after. I enjoyed this book more than the actual Molly books.

My 8 year old read this, but was pretty upset by the pages on the atomic bomb. I should have preread it first!

It's been a long time since I've read or reviewed any American Girl books. I love them as a teacher for the same reasons that I loved them when I read them as a young girl: they are interesting and give a picture into every day life. I could imagine myself as Molly, worrying about my father at war and trying to help my busy, overworked mother.

This nonfiction companion to the Molly's WW2 American girl story was a pleasure to glance through. I felt that everyday life was well described, though I would have liked to have seen more about rationing and coping with a new way of living. The War in the Pacific was briefly but accurately noted; I wish that the book included more balance on this issue

Unlike the American Girl stories, this book isn't a fictional story: it's a collection of history from the 1940's. Sorted into different categories such as "Toys" and "Victory Gardens" and different stories such as that of Sadako Sasaki, a girl who developed Leukemia after the Hiroshima bombing and tried to fold 1,000 paper cranes in accordance with an ancient Japanese legend. I read this book at about age ten, and I loved every page. I would recommend this to older American Girl fans simply because it is just history, not an American Girl story. But, young or old, the content is appropriate (there aren't any details or pictures I would say are unsuitable for kids), and even adults will enjoy this collection of World War II era History.

Of all of the Welcome to ___'s World books, I definitely learned the most from this book. I never completely read the entire six-book Molly series, so I was still a bit fuzzy about why Molly was called an American Girl on the Home Front. I didn't really understand what the home front was or the origin of the name, and what life was like on the home front. Reading this book was truly educational because I had no clue on most of the things it talked about, so I genuinely enjoyed learning about life on the home front. I loved this book because of that. Molly's not my favorite character, and neither is the time period, but I did enjoy learning something I didn't know for a change. History and AG fans should love this book as well as all the books in the Welcome to ___'s World collection.

This is such an excellent book to introduce kids, or adults, to many aspects of life during WWII. I read the book to my 5 year old, who has a particular interest in WWII, and my 3 year old girls, and the information, for the most part, was appropriate for them. There are some heavier details-- D-Day, concentration camps, bombing of Japan-- and I did exclude a few bits of info the sake of the kids, but I wouldn't need to edit it if they were a couple years older. I appreciate that none of the photos showed gore or death, but still give a good idea of what things were like.

From the 5 year old: I think that the book is a little bit fun and scary and only a little bit boring because, well, I'm not sure... My favorite part is that it told some about Molly McIntire.

You can tell just by looking at my bookshelves that I've read this book quite a few times because it no longer has the hardcover front and back as seen in the picture that shows up on Goodreads. At some point, the binding fell apart and I had to tape what was left. I really do like these Welcome to ____ World's book as companions to the fiction books. I still keep mine on my bookshelf amongst my history books. I feel like they validly belong there. They're a great starting point to more information. Recommended!

This is an American Girls book, but I checked it out from the library for my son who was studying World War II in school. This was the best book in the library about World War II for his age group (4th grade). Once I could get him past the girly cover, I think he enjoyed flipping through it. I also enjoyed reading it. I liked the combination of photos, drawings, facts, stories, and glimpses into life in America at the time.

Very interesting, like the other ones.

J940.5 Gou

Second time checking out. :-)

This was a really great set put out by AG in the late 90s. These were oversize books, very informative, and useful for school projects and such.

I loved this as a kid. It was a great way to introdution girls to the history behind their beloved books.

Every one went to work helping with the war effort.

An interesting book of facts and history during WW Two made for kids.

Informative, but not one of my favorites.