Category: History

Why Longfellow Lied

The Truth About Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride

by Jeff Lantos

Charlesbridge, 2021. 134 pages.
Review written January 7, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

My plan was to read this book a little bit at a time, but once I started, it was hard to stop! It takes Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s famous poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride” stanza by stanza and tells us what really happened on that fateful night that the Revolutionary War began.

But Longfellow made it a poem about one hero, Paul Revere, when actually a long list of people were involved in warning the colonists. So the author also looks at the question of why Longfellow took so much poetic license? What was he trying to accomplish with this poem? (Hint: It was written just before the Civil War began.)

Now, kids today may not be familiar with the famous poem. The author takes care of that by printing it at the front of the book. And the words do have a ring to them. Then he takes the poem a little at a time and tells us what actually happened that night, from revealing the actual mastermind behind the mission to telling us about Paul Revere’s capture before he ever got to Concord.

It turns out that was a momentous and exciting night in American history. The book is filled with plenty of paintings, maps, sidebars, engravings, photographs, and other artefacts. I now have a much better understanding of April 18-19, 1775, than I ever got in History class. Super interesting and informative. And it will help kids think critically about history.

charlesbridge.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Small Shoes, Great Strides

How Three Brave Girls Opened Doors to School Equality

by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
illustrated by Alex Bostic

Carolrhoda Books, 2024. 44 pages.
Review written June 5, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

You’ve probably heard of Ruby Bridges. It turns out that first graders Leona Tate, Tessie Prevost, and Gail Etienne, were ten minutes ahead of Ruby integrating a previously all-white school in a different part of New Orleans.

This lovely book tells their story. It’s in picture book format, with large artwork on each spread, but there’s also a lot of text on each spread, so the target audience is upper elementary school kids who can handle that much reading. There are ten pages of back matter, giving more to the story.

This book leads off with telling how the girls were taught in a classroom with paper over the windows and had to have recess and lunch indoors. Federal marshals escorted them to school and even to the bathroom.

The book also covers the threats they faced even at home and the constant police presence. We can all be so thankful that they and their families saw it through. Already the next year, they were able to take the paper down from the windows.

I have to admit, though, that I was saddened by the pages in the back matter describing what school was like for them from third grade on in an integrated school. No longer protected by federal marshals, students and even teachers were often cruel. But it still doesn’t diminish the powerful thing they accomplished as first graders and the lasting effects.

vaundamicheauxnelson.com
alexbostic.com
lernerbooks.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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She’s on the Money

by Andrea Hall
illustrated by Li Zhang

Albert Whitman & Company, 2021. 32 pages.
Review written December 1, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

What a fun idea! This picture book gives short biographies of 15 women who appear or have appeared on currency somewhere in the world. Each woman gets a spread, with a page at the back for Britannia and a page for Lady Liberty.

Some of the women are well-known, such as the first one presented, Cleopatra. Others I’d never heard of, such as the last set presented, the Mirabal Sisters of the Dominican Republic. The women are presented in the order of the year they were born.

There are more from America than anywhere else, but that’s just two – Sacagawea and Helen Keller (who was on the Alabama quarter) – well, you may also count “Lady Liberty” at the back. I like the wide range of countries represented.

Also fun is the close look at the currency where the women are portrayed – I’ve long said that other countries have much more interesting money and it shows the colorful bills and the symbolism next to the woman’s portrait.

A fascinating book. You can learn both about distinguished women and what money looks like in other countries. Now, I know they didn’t present every woman who’s ever been on currency, because Queen Elizabeth wasn’t mentioned – but I do wish the book were fatter with more examples, and I fear that’s because there aren’t too many more examples out there. There is a note in the back about plans to put Harriet Tubman on the United States twenty dollar bill. May it be so.

lizhangart.com
albertwhitman.com

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Your Legacy

A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2021. 44 pages.
Review written November 17, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

Your Legacy is a lavishly illustrated picture book for African American children. The book reframes the story of their enslaved ancestors as one of resilience and powerfully overcoming hardship with love. And what a legitimate reframing!

The qualities of those ancestors specifically pointed out are love, intellect, courage, determination, brilliance, strength, ingenuity, grace, and dignity. Then more modern-day examples of African Americans who demonstrated these qualities are portrayed.

I thought this was such a beautiful way to look at the past.

I love the point that they didn’t all speak the same language and coming up with a way to communicate showed great ingenuity. Here’s some of that part:

When they finally landed in the Americas, they were surrounded by people from other African countries and Caribbean Islands. All of these people were now called slaves.

Your ancestors were immediately separated from one another and given new names. They were put into groups with other enslaved people, who all spoke different languages. They were forced to do grueling work.

Although they were strangers, they chose to LOVE and protect one another as family.

They needed to find a way to communicate with one another. It was their INTELLECT that allowed them to combine all the languages they spoke to create a new one, called Pidgin.

They also found a new language they could share . . . MUSIC.

That’s one part of the reframing. The whole book beautifully shows the strong spirit of people who got through adversity and passed on beautiful qualities to their descendants.

If you have African American children, this is a book to own and treasure and read with them again and again. But all children will benefit from at least reading this beautiful story.

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Mother Jones and Her Army of Mill Children

by Jonah Winter
illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Schwartz & Wade Books, 2020. 36 pages.
Review written February 27, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

The topic of this picture book biography stirred me up besides telling me about someone I hadn’t known much about. Mother Jones – Mary Harris Jones – was the “grandmother of all agitators.” She spoke out strongly against oppressive labor conditions, and especially about child labor. The title and the focus of the book are about a Children’s March where she led mill children on a protest march from Philadelphia to New York City in 1903, which she called the Children’s Crusade.

The book is written in first person from Mother Jones’ perspective. Quotes from her speeches are used in a few places, and famous quotes are included on the endpapers. All caps are used in places to convey her anger at injustice.

Well, I’ve seen lots of things to get RILED UP about, but the worst thing I ever saw was in the fabric mills of Philadelphia. I saw children YOUR AGE – nine and ten years old – who worked like grown-ups, forced to stand on their feet for TEN HOURS STRAIGHT, tying threads to spinning spools, reaching their hands inside the dangerous machines that make the fabric, sometimes getting skirts caught, sometimes getting hair caught, sometimes hands or legs, working for hours and hours, never resting, breathing deadly dust – robbed of their childhoods, robbed of their dreams, and all for a measly TWO CENTS AN HOUR, while outside the birds sang and the blue sky shone.

The majority of the book is about the Children’s March. They didn’t stop at New York City, but marched on to the summer home of President Theodore Roosevelt on Long Island – where he refused to see them.

But the actions of Mother Jones ended up resulting in child labor laws that are still in effect today.

I liked that the artist used a dark palette for this book, with sobering pictures of the kids – as well as happier pictures, such as when the kids tried out the rides on Coney Island.

This book gives an important story, and I’m glad I learned about it. It’s told in a way that kids can appreciate a woman – and children – who made a big difference.

nancycarpenter.website
rhcbooks.com

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*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.

Lizzie Demands a Seat!

Elizabeth Jennings Fights for Streetcar Rights

by Beth Anderson
illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Calkins Creek (Boyds Mills & Kane), 2020. 32 pages.
Review written April 22, 2020, from a library book
Starred Review

We’ve all heard of Rosa Parks, but in this book I learned about Lizzie Jennings, a free black woman who fought in court for her right to ride on streetcars with whites in New York State in 1854.

This picture book dramatizes her encounter. She was physically thrown off a streetcar on her way to church, but got right back on.

Five blocks later, the conductor hailed an officer.

Again a crowd gathered and watched in silence.

“Officer,” said the conductor, “the passengers object to this woman’s presence. It’s my duty to remove her.”

“No one objected!” Lizzie said, leaping up. “I have rights!”

The officer forced her off the streetcar. “Make your complaint. You’ll not get far.

Lizzie did go to court about it, with her whole community behind her. Her lawyer was Chester Arthur – who later became President of the United States.

The whole story is dramatic and inspiring. I’d had no idea that African Americans also had to fight for rights in the North – of course that shows my ignorance. It’s always good to read about someone standing up for what’s right. And especially good when they win rights for others as well.

The book is beautifully illustrated, with a nice variety of scenes pictured and a focus on faces. I’m glad this story is being told.

bethandersonwriter.com
eblewis.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books.