Sam the Minuteman (I Can Read Book 3) [Paperback]

Nathaniel Benchley (Author), Arnold Lobel (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: February 20, 1987 | Age Range: 4 - 8 years | Series: I Can Read Book 3 | Lexile Measure: 410L (What's this?)

"Get your gun!" Sam's father said. "The British soldiers are coming this way!" Sam's father was a Minuteman. Sam was ready in a minute.

Father and son rushed to the village green. Other Minutemen were already there. Through the long night they waited and waited. Then, at dawn, the soldiers came!

In this exciting I Can Read Book, Nathaniel Benchly recreates what it must have been like for a young boy to fight in the Battle of Lexington. Arnold Lobel's vivid pictures give a poignant reality to the famous battle that marked the beginning of the American Revolution.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sam's family lives on a farm in Lexington, Mass.; one night his father wakes him up and tells him to get his gun, because the British are coming. "Benchley's expressive words and Lobel's vivid drawings portray a realistic story," PW wrote.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Nathaniel Benchley was the author of several different types of books, as well as plays, movies and magazine articles.

He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College, majoring in English. Shortly after graduation, he married Marjorie Bradford, and they settled down in New York City, where he worked for several newspapers and magazines. In 1941, before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the U. S. Navy and was later trained to command small PT attack boats. He served in the Navy in the North and South Atlantic theaters and was on his way to the Pacific campaign when the war ended in 1945. He returned to New York and joined his wife and five year-old son, Peter. The next year, they had another son, Nathaniel Robert.

Nathaniel Benchley worked as a freelance writer –and painter- for the next 36 years. He wrote novels, plays, short stories, reviews, movie scripts and a very popular biography of the actor Humphrey Bogart. Much of his material was drawn from his life in New York and Nantucket, MA, where the family had a summer home. He found the small town life in Nantucket was rich in characters and material for adventures. He wrote a book titled The Off-Islanders, which was later made into a successful movie called "The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!" It was the story of a Russian submarine run aground on a small New England island. Several of his other books were also made into movies.

His sideline as a painter of landscapes led to his participation in many gallery showings.

Mr. Benchley used his fascination with history to create a series of books for beginning and teen readers. His particular interest was in taking a moment in history and examining it through the eyes of a young boy. He told stories about the Vikings coming to what would later be called "America;" Native American Indians dealing with the new settlers in their land ("Small Wolf"); young boys in Colonial America ("Sam the Minuteman" and "George the Drummer Boy") and the movement west; and a young boy who joins the Navy during World War II.

He also wrote a series of books for very beginning readers, many of which were about animals and their special bonds with humans ("Red Fox and His Canoe," "Oscar Otter").

He was always proudest of the letters he got from young readers who had identified with one of his characters and wanted to ask questions raised by their reading. He personally answered every letter he got from his readers.

In 1974, his son, Peter, published his first novel, Jaws, based on his experiences fishing off Nantucket in his youth (and a healthy imagination).

For the last many years of his life, Nathaniel Benchley lived in Nantucket with his wife.

Nathaniel Benchley lived by the motto: "A craftsman is one who does what he is given to do better than others feel is necessary."He died in Boston, MA, in 1981.

Arnold Lobel (1933-1987) was the award-winning author and illustrator of many beloved children's books, including the classic I Can Read books about Frog and Toad, and the Caldecott Medal winning Fables.

Product Details

• Age Range: 4 - 8 years
  
• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (February 20, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064441075
• ISBN-13: 978-0064441070
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,532 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A children's book about our revolutionary war origins March 13, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Library Binding

Although the reading level with this title says "baby-preschool," this book is really better suited for slightly older children (4-8)--although our 3-year old loves this one as a bedtime story! The story follows a boy (Sam) and his father in rural Massachussetts the day the British marched on Lexington and Concord. Sam and his father take up their arms and join the other Minutemen to resist the British incursion. For Sam it is long and tiring day. The story is a quick read with well-drawn pictures. I was quite happy to find this title. It was one of my favorites when I was a child and I credit it with starting for me a life-long love of history, especially American history. I'm hoping it might do the same for our child as well.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Historical Fiction April 29, 2003

By Melissa Levandowski

Format:Paperback

My kids loved this book. This book can be read by any reading level, because of its historical perspective. It appears to most adequately suit 1st graders. With my older children I used it as a tool, along with George the Drummer Boy, to teach perspective in writing and history. These two books in combination do an excellent job. Sam the Minuteman is told from the perspective of an American boy. George the Drummer Boy is told from a British boy's perspective. This book has 61 pages, about 1/4 of the pages are full page illustrations. Both books portray the same event in history - the beginning of the American Revolution.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars 4 1/2* An I CAN READ History Book by Benchley and Lobel February 2, 2005

By M. Allen Greenbaum HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

In plain language, and with just a bit of humor, prolific author Nathaniel Benchley (son of the great humorist Robert) and the equally experienced Arnold Lobel tell the story of the beginnings of the American Revolution, as seen through the eyes of a young boy. On the night of Paul Revere's famous ride, Sam accompanies his father to the village green. The pensive faces of the Minutemen and the monochrome and two-toned drawings of Lobel build tension as they await the possible arrival of the British. Finally, they hear the "TRAMP TRAMP TRAMP" of the British soldiers-the "lobsterbacks": "Over the hill and past the tavern came the soldiers! They came on and on and on." At close range, the British kill eight men (they're shown lying on the ground), and wound Sam's friend John in the leg. "'Sam!' John cried. `I'm hit.' John held his leg and fell down."

Soon after, the British attack again. Sam joins his father, despite his mother's loud protest. This time the Minutemen shoot back from behind trees and rocks. Benchley's dramatic narrative continues: "No one knew it then, but that day was the start of the American Revolution." Lobel shows the Minutemen's strain, the families' agony, and the fatigue of Sam and others.

Although a simply told story intended for young readers, Benchley and Lobel convey some of the key elements that went into the eventual American victory. Perhaps a little violent for the younger audiences, this is a realistic story with the look and feeling of an archetypal children's book.