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A Picture Book of John and Abigail Adams (Picture Book Biography)

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If you're looking for a quality picture book to give to a young friend, the name of David A. Adler should be high on your list. He has written well over 100 books for young readers - our favorites among those are in his Picture Book Biography series. These books not only educate but entertain - Adler brings history to life, an initial introduction for many.

A PICTURE BOOK OF JOHN AND ABIGAIL ADAMS is Adler at his best, and also the fourth collaboration between father and son. We first meet Adams as one of three sons living in Braintree (now Quincy) Massachusetts. It was here that he enjoyed being out of doors, whether it was swimming in the summer or sledding in the winter.

As a young man he went with a friend to the home of Reverend William Smith, which was where he met Abigail who was "small, sickly, and just fourteen." Their initial meeting didn't impress either one of them but as John continued to come to the Smith house to borrow books from Reverend Smith's library their feelings changed. As we now know they married, and Abigail was "his most trusted adviser, his dearest friend for more than fifty years."

Adler traces their lives together through the Boston Massacre in 1770 and following when John displayed great skill as a lawyer. He soon represented Massachusetts at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and later served as a diplomat in France, spending much of the next ten years in Europe. Throughout this time Abigail managed their home and money.

Time passed, the American Revolution ended and John Adams was elected vice president serving with George Washington as president. While he was an American patriot and a great man of his time, Abigail was an amazing woman.

The book includes a list of important dates, source notes, and a selected bibliography.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke

John Adams was an outdoor sort of boy and enjoyed playing outside with his two brothers. He was born in Braintree, Massachusetts on October 19, 1735. Naturally, as an outdoorsy type, he was interested in becoming a farmer, but his father insisted he have an education and wanted him to become a lawyer. By the age of sixteen he had enrolled in Harvard and soon after he graduated he briefly taught school before undertaking a law practice. In 1759 he chanced to meet Abigail Smith who was totally disinterested in him. The feeling was mutual, but in time they grew to appreciate and care for each other quite deeply.

Later their affection for one another led to marriage and they eventually had five children. In this book you will read about their lifetime partnership and will see how two people could influence the course of history. John, of course, is the main player in this book, however, as Abigail once wrote, "No man ever prospered in the world without the consent and cooperation of his wife." The reader will learn about their personal lives, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, John's participation in the First and Second Continental Congresses, his ten year stint in Europe as a diplomat, his years as president, and more.

This is an excellent overview of John and Abigail Adams for the budding historical reader. This book naturally does not go into great detail in any facet of the Adams' lives, but I certainly was able to get a feel for their personalities. The highlights of their lives and political aspects of John's lengthy career are touched upon. This book would be an excellent stepping stone to further research on the Adams family for a young student wanting to attempt a report. The watercolors were very appealing and caught many details such as the period clothing and John's "short, overweight" physical characteristics. In the back of the book are a list of important dates, source notes, a selected bibliography, authors' notes and additional recommend website resources to explore.