A Personal Tour of Monticello (How It Was) [Hardcover]

Robert Young (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1999 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up | Series: How It Was

Presents a tour of Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia through the eyes of a slave boy, a cook, a visitor, Jefferson himself, and his grand-daughter.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-A pleasant, if bland, series designed to reinforce the "real-life" side of history. Between the introduction and afterword, each of these slim volumes contains five fictional vignettes that focus on "the way it was" for a variety of individuals who lived at these sites. In both titles, full-color and sepia-toned photos, reproductions, and drawings depict homes, artifacts, and local scenery. Mesa Verde follows a young matron, her 9-year-old daughter, her 10-year-old son, a trader, and a holy man as they go about their daily tasks in Balcony House, an actual cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde National Park. Maps and diagrams accompany the readable text, and information boxes provide a factual counterpoint to the fictional narrative. Teamed with Caroline Arnold's The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde (Clarion, 1992) and Scott S. Warren's Cities in the Sand (Chronicle, 1992), this semi-fictional title will add a human touch to a unit on a vanished civilization. Monticello visits with Thomas Jefferson, his 10-year-old granddaughter, a visitor to Monticello, and two slaves. Again, diagrams of gardens and grounds and floor plans accompany the text, and information boxes are everywhere. Yoked with Robert Quackenbush's Pass the Quill, I'll Write a Draft: A Story of Thomas Jefferson (Pippin, 1989), Jim Hargrove's Thomas Jefferson (Children's, 1986), and Leonard E. Fisher's Monticello (Holiday, 1988), this title will add a down-to-earth aspect to a founding father.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

This entry in the How It Was series offers a tour of Monticello, the former home of Thomas Jefferson, through the eyes of five separate individuals during a chilly day in May 1810: Jefferson; Thrimston, a ten-year-old slave who worked in the nail shop; Cornelia Jefferson Randolf, Jefferson's granddaughter; Edith ``Edy'' Fossett, a cook; and an unnamed visitor, who arrived with a letter of introduction and was invited ``to dine and stay the night.'' Although the five viewpoints permit discussions of some of Monticello's various facets, they are brief and make the presentation somewhat disjointed. Full-color and black-and-white photographs and drawings, however, depict the beauty of Monticello and illustrate why 500,000 people visit this famous landmark each year. (maps, diagrams, notes, glossary, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 9-11) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group (January 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822535750
• ISBN-13: 978-0822535751
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,218,843 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Young has had the honor and pleasure working as a classroom teacher in grades 2-8 for twenty-five years, an author of twenty-four books for children, and a writing consultant as well as visiting author to schools both nationally and internationally. Questions are a constant companion, and the books he writes are based on his many curiosities. The joys and challenges of working with words awaken him most every morning. Even holidays.

For more information about Robert and his work, visit his website and blog at www.realwriting.us where signed, print copies of his books are available.