Joining the Boston Tea Party (Time-Traveling Twins) [Hardcover]

Diane Stanley (Author), Holly Berry (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up | Series: Time-Traveling Twins

Liz, Lenny, and Grandma are back for another time-traveling adventure. With the Fourth of July fast approaching, there's only one thing for them to do ...

Join the Boston Tea Party!

With the help of Grandma's magic hat, the twins journey back to Boston in 1773. From powdered wigs and petticoats to Indian pudding and chamber pots, Liz and Lenny get a firsthand look at life in colonial America. But best of all they actually join the "Mohawks" as they dump tea into Boston Harbor and help begin the American Revolution.

Diane Stanley once again blends humor and historical detail in this exciting second installment of the Time-Traveling Twins series. Featuring word balloons packed with comedy and lots of information, and Holly Berry's inviting illustrations, this book will make readers jump at the chance to join the twins as they learn about history by living it!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Diane Stanley's Time-Traveling Twins head for a second adventure in Joining the Boston Tea Party, illus. by Holly Berry. The date is 1773, and Liz, Lenny and Grandma hear Sam Adams speak and join the "Mohawks" in dumping tea into the Boston Harbor. Inviting illustrations as well as word balloons filled with humor ("I always thought tea came in little bags!") and information ("Women won't get to vote until 1920") should pull in aspiring historians.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 1-4-Stanley's irrepressible Time-Traveling Twins embark on a new adventure, along with their grandmother and her dog, Moose. With the help of their spirited grandma and her magic hat, they are all transported back to colonial Boston to visit some ancestors and, dressed as Mohawks, the youngsters join in the excitement of the Boston Tea Party. Along with creating the drama of the rebellion, the author takes on the challenge of explaining its political and economic underpinnings using dialogue balloons to provide a sense of immediacy. The device is truly tested when the twins' colonial relatives chat about taxation without representation and other British abuses. However, although complex concepts are compressed, they are clearly presented in generally accessible vocabulary. Using a lighthearted cartoon style and an upbeat palette, Berry energizes the visual narrative with kinetic compositions and eye-catching perspectives. Her characters inhabit cozy, period interiors and roam Boston's quaint streets and harbor district. A large, simply presented map of the colonies and a comparison of aspects of daily life "then" and "now" decorate the endpapers. In addition, an author's note tells how the Sons of Liberty set in motion a series of events that ended with the founding of our nation. Young readers will enjoy the time travel, the colorful details of colonial life, and, of course, the derring-do of the Tea Party, while older readers will appreciate access to a humorous and painlessly informative introduction to an important chapter in American history.

Carey Ayres, formerly at Port Washington Public Library, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (July 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060270675
• ISBN-13: 978-0060270674
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,305,334 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Diane Stanley is the author and illustrator of more than fifty books for children, noted especially for her series of picture book biographies. SHAKA: KING OF THE ZULUS was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Book; LEONARDO DA VINCI received the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction from the National Council for Teachers of English. Ten of her books have been honored as "Notable Books" by the American Library Association and she has twice received both the Boston Globe/Hornbook Award and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' Golden Kite Award. She is the recipient of the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for Nonfiction for the body of her work.

She lives in Santa Fe, NM. Visit her website at dianestanley.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good educational book - but not boring ..., May 3, 2006

By 

Gerae Lindsey (Stockton, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joining the Boston Tea Party (Time-Traveling Twins) (Hardcover)

My kids (ages 6 and 7) both enjoyed me reading this book aloud. They learned alot by the end of the book about not only the Boston Tea Party but also what life was like for the colonists during the Revolutionary War period. Nice color pictures held my kids attention well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Joining the Boston Tea Party, June 27, 2011

By 

Heather Hart "Author & Editor" (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joining the Boston Tea Party (Time-Traveling Twins) (Hardcover)

In this book, the Time-Traveling twins journey back to Boston in 1773 to get a firsthand look at colonial life and experience the Boston Tea Party. This book is chalked full of historical facts and keeps kids interested. They really did cover life in colonial America in 1773 as well as they did the actual tea party. The author tried to weave in humor in the form of their talking pet dog, but it really just made it confusing and didn't seem to add to the story at all.

While it's easy to explain away the magic hat by saying that the author was just pretending, there were several other things that prevent me from recommending this book. #1 being that the boy calls his sister a `dummy' for asking a helpful question, and then putting her down further with his next comment. I found the mixture of block texts and speech balloons hard to follow. I wasn't sure where I was supposed to be reading at next, and reading them in the wrong order made absolutely no since. The twins also went with their ancestor without telling their grandmother (who was in charge) where they were going. In fact, they even mentioned not telling her, because she probably wouldn't want them to go. In the same conversation they mentioned the danger of what they were doing and that the penalty if they were caught was death. This upset my boys a great deal that someone would kill a child. We had to stop and re-explain that there weren't really kids involved and that this was just a pretend story about an actual event.

Overall, I think my favorite part of this book was the Author's note. It held tons of facts without the hard to read speech balloons or character flaws and fictional fluff getting in the way. If you are studying the revolutionary war and its surrounding events, there are tons of quality books out there; I highly recommend skipping this one.

4.0 out of 5 stars A lark, August 23, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joining the Boston Tea Party (Time-Traveling Twins) (Hardcover)

This book takes time travel and costume dress-up to the Boston Tea Party. It is cute and harmless, and it's memorable for kids. There is a GREAT map on the front end papers, and a fun comparison of colonial gear with present-day gear on the back end papers.