Customer Reviews

If You Lived At The Time Of The American Revolution

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

We have other in you books that we really enjoyed while my son learned some history. This book is listed for ages 9-12 but assumed much more pre-knowledge of the american revolution than children that age would have. There was no real history attached minus some people were loyalists and some were patriots. What information that was in this book was lost for the 9-12 year old group because it is a difficult read for the age. The words are probably typical content and timeframe accurate but not explained and the book is too conceptual not fact based. Overall reading the book it was clearly written with a agenda - which was not to inform you of the timeframe or life in the timeframe but rather that war is bad. A fine message for a book not titled If You Lived at the Time of the American Revolution. Either the age range or information contained should be adjusted.

I thought that this book was a great example of how all of our history books should be written: from multiple perspectives! All we ever hear about our history is the positive patriotic version that is sugar coated and mostly false. For once, someone has written a story for children that shares both sides of the story: Loyalist and Patriot. This book beautifully compares and contrasts the viewpoints of both sides, the impact the war had on both sides, and some of the important figures, both Loyalist and Patriot. Excellent book to get your children thinking critically about the American Revolution!

According the the Author's note, the purpose of this book is to show what America lost by winning the Revolution. She portrays the loyalists having been treated unfairly by the patriots, to the point of not being able to send their children to school, not being able to speak freely, and being in fear of being attacked and having their homes burned down. She fails to mention any dangers faced by the Patriots. This book is horribly one sided. I bought this for my neice, but would be ashamed to actually give it to her as a gift.

This Book is a very good source for helping teach what everyday life was like for both the Patriots and Loyalists during the Revolutionary War. Although I am not an expert on the Revolutionary War I do know quite a bit about the time period and am a stickler for historical accuracy.I am also a stickler when it comes to revitionist history or creating a historical bias due to omitting facts so I am very careful about the sources I use when teaching history to my second graders. While I think the book did a good job of presenting the perspectives of both Patriots and Loyalists the book did go a little heavy on the abuse suffered by Loyalists from Patriots. Both sides suffered abuse from the other but the book fails to mention that Patriots also sufferd the same abuse by Loyalists. Example: both Loyalist and Patriots had homes and property seized and burned- not just Loyalists as the book implies.

The book also made a huge historical error in stating that George Washington's older brother Lawrence remained a staunch Loyalist during the Revolution resulting in family division. This is simply not true. Lawrence had been dead many years before the beginning of the Revolution having died while George was still a teen-ager. It was from Lawrence that George inherited Mount Vernon. George did have other brothers but all of them served on the Patriots side. It may be that the author confused Lawrence with George's in-laws some of whom remained Loyalists, but when writing a historical book, especially one whose purpose is to educate children, correct factual detail is a must.This was a big mistake to make and one that could easily have been avoided just by double-checking facts. If this book is ever reprinted I hope this mistake will be corrected.

Despite the error I found, this book had a lot of good information and was a valuable resource in teaching my second grade students about the Revolutionary War. I just made sure I expanded or explained where needed.

I find if you are like me and do not remember the history that was studied in school when you were younger that picking up a kids book on history helps you better understand what you are learning about.

This written very simply and broken up in lite paragraphs. It gives an overview of what happened during the American Revolution for the Patriots and Loyalists. It also speaks a little about certain people who became better known because of American Revolution from both sides. Although that is not that much known about Loyalists according to the book but just enough to be interesting information in this.

It was interesting to learn both sides of the coin and how different times and people where and how they changed during and after. Overall I give it a thumbs up.

I would agree with another reviewer that the great thing about this book is that it is written non-judgmentally from the perspective of both sides, inviting the child to imagine what he/she would have done in the same situation. But it is so full of facts that it makes for very dry reading all by itself. It would make a great resource for the child that is just learning how to do research or who wanted to do some creative writing with this time period for background.

This book is a good introduction. This book is intended for 4th+ grade. It is wordy with a colored 'sketch' in each two-page spread. Good information and easy to use with the question/answer format.

Kay Moore's excellent book is of tremendous value to young students of history because it contributes something rare for younger readers -- some insight into the other side of the story of the American Revolution.

Not every colonist was in favor of war, and many fled for their lives rather than refuse to follow their conscience. Many in the colonies felt they owed their comfortable lifestyle to England, and had no intention of biting the hand that had fed them so well. They also felt that they had the rights and privilidges of free British men and women, and needed no rebellion to secure it. Much like the Civil War, families were torn apart by this issue, sometimes father against son, and brother against brother. To not tell this story would be an injustice to both sides.

Kate Moore's magnificent book, If You Lived At The Time of The American Revolution is an absolute must for students. Adults can learn a great deal from it as well.

When I read this book I was so disappointed at the author's attempt to paint Patriots as the bad guys! She has written a "politically correct" story of the Revolutionary War. Is there anyone out there who actually believes the British should have won, or retained control of the colonies? When I pointed out to my son's teacher the not-so-subtle message in the book, she removed it from the classroom. My advice: READ THESE BOOKS BEFORE YOU BUY THEM.

This book covers all of the information on the American Revolution but it is super long so it's an excellent resource but is not a read aloud unless you choose only a couple chapters at a time.