Customer Reviews

The Declaration Of Independence

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As Sam Fink tells the reader in his forward: "For as long as I can remember, every Fourth of July The New York Times reproduced a copy of the original Declaration of Independence on the back page. Each time it appeared, I would look it over with admiration and go out to celebrate..." "A couple of years ago, I thought I would actually try to read it... Reading it over several times, enjoying it more and more, I became very impressed with Thomas Jefferson's logic. I liked his argument of how unfairly the colonies were being treated, how they couldn't stand it anymore, and they needed to break away from Great Britain. So, I planned a project..." And that project became this book, The Declaration of Independence: The Words That Made America. Mr Fink has taken the document apart, dividing it into short, more easily understood phrases. Each two-page spread features one beautifully, hand lettered phrase, accompanied by a clever and engaging illustration of its meaning. It's the captivating artwork, rich in historical detail and playful wit, that really brings the significance of these great words to life. Mr Fink also includes the complete text of the Declaration, informative chronology "that transformed loyal subjects of Great Britain into rebellious, patriotic Americans," a comprehensive glossary, selected bibliography and resources, and index at the end, to further explain and enlighten. Perfect for youngsters 10 and older, The Declaration Of Independence is a marvelously evocative experience that both inspires and captures the imagination, and is most definitely one of the best new books of 2002. "The words that made America can now be shared with people of all ages; and they can help us understand what the Founding Fathers created for all of us who have followed. Freedom...oh, sweet freedom."

Periodically you will hear stories about how people go to Shopping Malls on the 4th of July and try to get people to sign a petition that talks about the people having the right to alter or to abolish the government and listing a bunch of grievances against the state. Many citizens refuse to sign the reactionary document, considering it some sort of "commie propaganda," but, of course, the joke is on them because they are being asked to sign a copy of the Declaration of Independence. The document is something that everybody would say they believe in, but very few people have actually read.

Sam Fink tries to remedy that problem with "The Declaration of Independence," which provides "the words that made America" inscribed and illustrated (Thomas Jefferson gets a credit for the "text"). Fink provides the complete text of the Declaration, broken down phrase by phrase, with each word hand lettered and accompanied by a colorful illustration that attempts to bring the document to life. These colored pen and ink drawings are a mixture of political cartoons and symbolic iconography. The more you know about the American Revolution and the events leading up to the writing and singing of the Declaration the more you will appreciate what Fink is doing. Unfortunately, I think most young readers are going to miss the subtleties here and since the volume is not annotated, they are not going to gain those insights here.

Still, chances are those same students will be more likely to actually read the entire Declaration this way than they will if they just see it printed up normally as it is in the back of this book. That is where they will also find a chronology of the events and documents that transformed the loyal subject of Great Britain into the rebellious American patriots, as well as a glossary that will explain the meanings of "abdicated," "inestimable," "rectitude" and other words that are not exactly part of the common vernacular today.

Large, phrase-by-phrase drawings in clever, political cartoon style, Fink's illustrations do justice to document itself. Fun for kids, but advanced enough to entertain any audience. Book also includes a glossary of Jefferson's beautiful words, a Revolution chronology, and index.

I recommend it for all ages.

A version of the Declaration that my kids can actually read and understand thanks to the artistry of Sam Fink.

An excellent opportunity to introduce your children to one of the founding documents of the nation.

A similar volume on the constitution would be most welcome.

1.This book sums up the Declaration of Independence and who wrote it and how it was made. On all that was happening in the time that it was wrote.
2.I personal liked the book and enjoyed it. I love history and enjoy the Declaration. It helped me further understand the declaration and its meaning. I have a better understanding of it.
3. The main story element in this book is characteriaztion because it does a good job discribing the writers and King George and how they were at the time the Declaration was writin.Characteriazation is what a charcter is like what he/she does to show personality.
4.I have rated this book 5 stars because it is a wonderful history book. If you like the decaration and histroy you would like this book. If you like Sam Fink you would also like this book.

The illistrated book of "The Declaration of Independence" by Sam Fink is excelent. It makes it very memorable for people of all ages who can read. I recomend everybody who home schools, or all public libraries, have a copy. People need to understand what happened to create this country. It was not easy.

1.) The book The Declaration of Independence basically is the exact word for word of the Declaration of Independence. It talks about the committe who wrote it, when it was wrote, and why it was wrote.

2.) My opinion was 5 stars on the book because of the detail of who wroted it and you can learn the words and meaning of the Declaration of Independence.

3.) The main story element was characterization becaus it talked and dissed King George a lot. Also quite a bit about the writers of the Declaration of Independence.

4.) The book is 5 stars for anyone who wants to understand the Declaration of Independence and know about who wrote it.

I also have sam fink's US constitution and Gettysburgh Address. The former is awesome, while the latter I think isn't really suitable for his style. The beauty of the GA was its brevity, so it doesn't lend itself well to book form. This D of I is beautiful but since it is for younger readers some of the illustrations are a bit juvenile and cartoonish. A great work all in all!

This book is an excellent way to understand the DOI,even though there is a
word glossary to the antiquated words,'OL Sam should have given modern meanings of all of the old 1700 words in parentheses () alongside.
I had to keep looking in the glossary to understand what some of the words meant and that threw off the flow of reading.
I can see why nobody wants to read the DOI with words we don't use anymore. Sam could have used our modern meanings in place of the antiquated words.