Customer Reviews

The American Revolution for Kids: A History With 21 Activities

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"The American Revolution for Kids: A History with 21 Activities" sets up the two complementary halves of Janis Herbert's book right in the title. On the one hand we have a fairly detailed history of the American Revolution for young students, with much more of a sense of the ebb and flow of the war itself, in terms of the specific battles, than they will find in their history textbooks. On the other hand there are almost two dozen activities, which will give kids a chance to make this particular period of American history come alive.

The seven chapters start with George III becoming king of England in 1760 and end with the ratification of the Constitution: (1) Sons and Daughters of Liberty looks at the taxation issues that sparked revolution; (2) Who Were the Colonists provides a sense of what these early Americans were like and what they did; (3) "We Must All Hang Together" details the early part of the war through the Declaration of Independence and the battles of Long Island and Trenton; (4) An Eventful Year covers 1777 and the pivotal battle of Saratoga and the winter at Valley Forge; (5) "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier" looks at who the soldiers were on both sides and what military life was like for them; (6) "The World Turned Upside Down" covers the end of the war with the surrender at Yorktown; and (7) A Good Peace, a New Nation starts with the Treat of Paris and ends with the Constitution being adopted.

Many of the activities are things colonials would have actually been doing back then, such as brewing a batch of root beer, making Liberty Tea Punch, creating a sampler or papyrotamia, baking Boston Brown Bread and Churned Butter, or playing various colonial children's games (Skin the Snake, Stool Ball, and I Sent a Letter to My Love). Several of the activities are specific to the Revolution, such as making a tricorn hat or fringed hunting shirt, creating a power horn, and trying to get ready in a minute. There is even an activity for reenacting the Battle of Cowpens (requires far less bodies than doing the Battle of Antietam in the Civil War volume of this series). However, there are also activities specific to more contemporary concerns, such as protesting current issues of public concern and making a law. I cannot imagine that any class or individual student would take advantage of all of these activities, but certainly teachers could find a couple that would spice up a class unit on the American Revolution. What you find here can also inspire teachers and students to come up with their own activities.

Still, you want to remember that this book is also informative, and teachers can find additional information to work into their classes as well as the activities. Sidebars throughout "The American Revolution for Kids" are devoted to key figures, topics, and issues from the period. The back of this volume includes a Glossary, A Guide to Officers on both sides, short Biographies of key political and military figures, the Declaration of Independence, a list of Web Sites to Explore, Revolutionary War Sites to Visit, a Bibliography, and Index. You can find additional books combining history and activities on the Civil War and World War II as well as significant art movements such as Monet and the Impressionists and Dali and the surrealists, all of which are worth at least a serious look by anyone teaching this material to younger students.

This book is an excellent introduction to the American Revolution. Children will undoubtedly find it entertaining and activities like making a tricorne hat or hunting shirt enjoyable. The American Revolution was one of the most important times in world history. Readers will clearly grasp this, and along the way, they will be treated to amusing incidents or myths like Israel Putnam's powderkeg duel. Although there are minor errors concerning the military aspects, they do not detract from the narrative. The book's greatest strength is in dealing with the political aspect of the war, showing the origins of English liberty at the beginning of the book - and the framing of the Constitution at the end.

My boys are 6 & 4, not the target age for this book but don't tell them that. We've had the book for nearly a year, we've read it front to back twice and favorite sections of it repeatedly. We've done several of the crafts including making fringed hunting shirts, making powder horns, and re-enacting the Battle of Cowpens (we did it with the boys' Playmobils)and everything has been a big hit. The boys aren't the only ones who enjoy it, I've learned a lot as well.

Looked at quite a few books in search of one about the American Revolution for my 11-year-old daughter. Finally found this one and it is terrific. It is the perfect combination of informational text, illustration and easy and fun enrichment activities.

This was a great resource for revisiting the events of the American Revolution with many fun activities for my students. Very creative and extremely informative. A nice resource and wealth of ideas.

This was by far the best resource for helping my older kids (late elementray through middle school) understand how the war escalated from discontentment to full blown rebellion. The descriptions of the battles were short enough to hold their attention but "meaty" enough to help the boys distinguish between them. We loved the integration of quotes. I appreciated the highlights about many of the founding fathers who are usually glossed. The activites were enjoyable but not show stopping. The book's value is definately in the presentation of information. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of other books in the series. I hope they are as well written as this!

I am tutoring a 5th grade girl on the American Revolution and pretty much all other subjects. Her mom wants me to help her get better grades (which is understandable) but I feel like I'm failing. I think perhaps I need a better resource than just my own interpretation and creative thought. I'm still trying to figure out if she is an aesthetic, visual, auditory, etc. learner. It was an interesting process trying to figure it out yesterday when she was over. If anyone has any idea of some resource that would be helpful for my situation, perhaps a fun textbook or practice booklet on all the various subjects, I would very much appreciate hearing about it. Also, if this would be a good resource for such a predicament, please let me know. Then I will decide if I like the product or not.
Thanks, PeacefulVictory

Very thourogh , yet fun. It gives a more detail than required for grade schoolers. We are able to skip some of the details to get to the main events. The activities are fun too.

This is a good resource on the Revolutionary War. It not only has good pictures but it also has great activities to make the history that you are learning come alive.

EXCELLENT BOOK: PROVIDED A COPY TO EACH WINNER OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL DAR GOOD CITIZENSHIP.