Heroes of the Revolution [Hardcover]

David A. Adler (Author), Donald A. Smith (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up

From spying on the British to rescuing fallen soldiers on the battlefield, these twelve men and women stand as unforgettable heroes of Revolutionary War. David A. Adler's lively anecdotes and Don Smith's bold paintings present a dozen figures whose courage and determination to seek freedom were indomitable in their own time, and remain a shining example in our own.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4-Whether spying on the British or rescuing fallen soldiers on the battlefield, the 12 men and women in this collection stand out as heroic figures. Each spread includes a brief, anecdotal text and a stylized painting of the individual in action. Entries are alphabetical, include birth and death dates, and contain details only about the person's contribution to the war. For example, George Washington's biography discusses his role as the commander of the Continental army. Other figures include Ethan Allen, Crispus Attucks, Lydia Darragh, Nathan Hale, Mary "Molly Pitcher" Hays, Thomas Jefferson, John Paul Jones, Thomas Paine, Paul Revere, Haym Salomon, and Deborah Sampson. A chronology and author's notes provide additional information. Teachers looking to introduce the war to children and students looking for ideas for reports will find this title an engaging place to start.
Shauna Yusko, King County Library System, Bellevue, WA
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

David Abraham Adler (born April 10, 1947) is the author of nearly 200 books for children and young adults, most notably the Cam Jansen mystery series, the "Picture Book of..." series, and several acclaimed works about the Holocaust for young readers.

Adler was born in New York City, New York. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

As of November 2008, Adler has three children and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Holiday House; 1 edition (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082341471X
• ISBN-13: 978-0823414710
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,354,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write both fiction and non-fiction. I begin my fiction with the main character. The story comes later. Of course, since I'll be spending a lot of time with each main character, why not have him or her be someone I like? Andy Russell is based, loosely, on a beloved member of my family. He's fun to write about and the boy who inspired the character is even more fun to know. Cam Jansen is based even more loosely on a classmate of mine in the first grade whom we all envied because we thought he had a photographic memory. Now, especially when my children remind me of some promise they said I made, I really envy Cam's amazing memory. I have really enjoyed writing about Cam Jansen and her many adventures. For my books of non-fiction I write about subjects I find fascinating. My first biography was Our Golda: The Life of Golda Meir. To research that book, I bought a 1905 set of encyclopedia. Those books told me what each of the places Golda Meir lived in were like when she lived there. I've written many other biographies, including books about Martin Luther King, Jr; George Washington; Abraham Lincoln; Helen Keller; Harriet Tubman; Anne Frank; and many others in my Picture Book Biography series. I've been a Yankee and a Lou Gehrig fan for decades so I wrote Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. It's more the story of his great courage than his baseball playing. Children face all sorts of challenges and it's my hope that some will be inspired by the courage of Lou Gehrig. I am working now on another book about a courageous man, Janusz Korczak. My book One Yellow Daffodil is fiction, too, but it's based on scores of interviews I did with Holocaust survivors for my books We Remember the Holocaust, Child of the Warsaw Ghetto, The Number on My Grandfather's Arm, and Hiding from the Nazis. The stories I heard were compelling. One Yellow Daffodil is both a look to the past and to the future, and expresses my belief in the great spirit and strength of our children. I love math and was a math teacher for many years, so it was fun for me to write several math books including Fraction Fun, Calculator Riddles, and Shape Up! Fun with Triangles and Other Polygons. In my office I have this sign, "Don't Think. Just Write!" and that's how I work. I try not to worry about each word, even each sentence or paragraph. For me stories evolve. Writing is a process. I rewrite each sentence, each manuscript, many times. And I work with my editors. I look forward to their suggestions, their help in the almost endless rewrite process. Well, it's time to get back to dreaming, and to writing, my dream of a job. David A. Adler is the author of more than 175 children's books, including the Young Cam Jansen series. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great intro to the Revolutionary War, April 28, 2008

By 

B. Clark "mom to boys" (Ridgewood, NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heroes of the Revolution (Paperback)

My boys (7 and 5) really enjoy this book. We read about one or two heroes at a time and it's just enough info to get their attention and keep them interested without going into too much detail. It was the springboard for my older son's interest in more in depth books on the Revolution such as LET IT BEGIN HERE or WHEN WASHINGTON CROSSED THE DELAWARE. David Adler is a wonderful author for children's non-fiction and fiction alike!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine introduction to home of the key figures, May 18, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heroes of the Revolution (Hardcover)

Kids in grades 3 to 4 will find David Adler's Heroes Of The Revolution to be a fine introduction to home of the key figures of the American Revolution, from Paul Revere and Crispus Attucks to Thomas Jefferson. Full-page drawings by Donald Smith face each page of biographical information on the person's background and historical impact.