I Survived Collector's Toolbox (I Survived) Paperback – August 25, 2015

My 8 year old, second grader absolutely loves this series. He loves to read, but prefers nonfiction books. He's a sponge, craving more and more knowledge about everything from plants, animals, and the human body to historical facts and sights and geography. This is fantastic, but we have had a terrible time getting him interested in fictional stories. Those are important as well, and his teachers and I had tried many different book series trying to engage him but kept coming up short. One of the teachers at his school ended up gifting him a book from this series as a reward for his reading scores. Once he began reading it, he didn't put it down until it was finished. These books are fictional stories, written from a child's perspective, but are based on real historical events. They're perfect for him. I have purchased nearly the entire collection now. I've picked up a few at school book fairs and I purchased this box set. This set comes with 10 of the 20 books in the series and I believe it was the latest 10. It's an exceptional price compared to purchasing them individually and you get the survival tool, which he loved. I believe the books included with this are The Destruction of Pompeii, The Nazi Invasion, The Japanese Tsunami, The Battle of Gettysburg, The Attacks of September 11th, The San Francisco Earthquake, The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hurricane Katrina, The Shark Attavks of 1916, and The Sinking of the Titanic. I highly recommend these books.

I bought this set to keep around for the grandkids. I read all of the books included (to myself only, so far), and now I am hoping to obtain the rest of the books that the author has written!

This set of short novels was ordered for a reluctant reader who will be expected to write book reports in school next year. Over the summer these have worked nicely in motivating him.The toolbox is a series of short (100 pages or less) novels that depict a young hero who survives an actual historical disaster. The chapters are short, usually only a few pages long, so it makes it easy for a child to proclaim “I finished 8 chapters today". They say the books are designed for readers up to age 12, but I feel that they would be too easy for older children. I also liked that the tragic events (including 9/11) are handled delicately. Some may think that death and tragedy are not suitable for youngsters, but honestly after finishing one of these books you are left with more of a sense of hope, admiration, and resilience.One suggestion for other parents (this worked for us), to totally immerse your child in that historic period, you should also read the book and talk about some of the events and curiosities in the book. An example is, during the book "I Survived The Shark Attacks of 1916" a statement was made by one of the characters that "Everyone knows that sharks are harmless. They are just trying to sell newspapers." which led us to do a google search to see if people back then could possibly believe that sharks were harmless in that era.Another plus to this series is the author's discussion at the end of each book. Especially appreciated was the discussion on 9/11, and how she ended the story.The set comes in a sturdy box with a handle and clasp. It also has a survival tool, a combo whistle, flashlight, and compass. The books in this set are : I Survived The Attack of 9-11, 2001 The Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 Hurricane Katrina, 2005 The Shark Attacks of 1916 The Destruction of Pompeii, A.D 79 The Nazi Invasion, 1944 The San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 The Japanese Tsunami, 2011 The Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 The Sinking of the Titanic, 1912I am very pleased with this set and would definitely recommend it to others.No disclosure needed - I am a “reviewer” of Amazon products and often get things at a discount, however this item I have bought at FULL price for my own personal use. Thank you for reading my review!

My nephew loved these books, told me it was the best Christmas present ever! He struggles with reading, and wanting to read. So these books are great. His favorite is the shark book so far! Love that it comes with 10 books and in a hard sided tool box. My nephew is 9, so these were recommend by a school teacher friend of mine. They keep his attention and also share some solid facts about historical events, just with a twist.

My 9 year old just started reading this series in her 4th grade class and she loves them. She borrowed one from her classroom, Hurricane Katrina, and it was really the first time I have ever seen her sit and read without being told 5,000 times to read. She is not my reader, typically its my younger daughter with her nose in a book all the time. I love that these book make it interesting for the kids all while talking about something that has actually happened. To me I think that will lead to them having more interest in our history in general. So after my daughter showed so much interest in the one book, I bought her the set and not only has she been reading them but she has been offering to lend them to her friends which is also cool that the kids are doing this and keeping the interest in reading still there.

This is the absolute best gift I have gotten for my son. Since this toolkit arrived, hewijld walk around the house, the car, the doctor’s office with a book in his hand. He would just not put them down. Who would then excitidely tell me stories from the book and look up facts on google about the events. This is coming from a boy that I had to bribe to read. Such a relief.It comes with 10 books and a flashlight that has a compass on it. The books are placed in a really cool metal box. I am now going to get the entire series of these.

My son LOVES this series. We've even emailed the author to tell her so, he's such a fan. I am a fan of anything that gets him reading! Unfortunately, one of the books in his box series, "I survived the Japanese Tsunami, 2001.....it skips from page 10 to page 27, or the end of chapter 2 to the end of chapter 5 (last page) to chapter 6. Very disappointing.