Travel Back in Time to the Revolutionary War with These Fun Adventures For Young Readers
Benjamin Franklin: You've Got Mail
Hardcover $12.99
Benjamin Franklin: You've Got Mail
By Adam Mansbach , Alan Zweibel
In Stock Online
Hardcover $12.99
Thanks to the musical Hamilton, which just about every 9 to 12 year old knows and loves, the Revolutionary War is big right now. Here are some fun books that literally take kids back in time to see it for themselves!
Thanks to the musical Hamilton, which just about every 9 to 12 year old knows and loves, the Revolutionary War is big right now. Here are some fun books that literally take kids back in time to see it for themselves!
Benjamin Franklin: You’ve Got Mail, by Adam Mansbach and Alan Zweibel
In the first book, Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My…, two ordinary kids, Ike and Claire, find themselves becoming pen pals across time with Benjamin Franklin. It doesn’t go well. An ill-advised effort to treat Ben to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich derails the efforts of the Founding Fathers to free the colonies from British Rule, and Ben sends a desperate message across time to Ike and Claire: “If the Future has any remedy for this situation, do not hesitate to provide it. That is to say, Ike and Claire Wanzandae, HELP! HELP HELP HELP.”
Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My...
Paperback $7.99
Benjamin Franklin: Huge Pain in My...
By Adam Mansbach , Alan Zweibel
Paperback $7.99
Ike decides to mail himself back to the 1770s to save the day in person, and in Benjamin Franklin: You’ve Got Mail he arrives at the right place and the right time, only to find that Ben is on the run from angry mobs and his house has been burned down. There’s no hope for the Colonies unless the French can be convinced to join their cause, and so (after raising some funds by selling fake medicine) Ben and Ike set off to France. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had the same idea, and are taking the same boat. Surely with three such statesmen bending their minds to the task all will be well…but when they reach the French king, bad oysters take down the Founding Fathers. It’s up to Ike to save the day. He does, more or less, although with consequences back in his own time (Florida, a state Ike did not hold in high esteem, is now French territory).
Ike decides to mail himself back to the 1770s to save the day in person, and in Benjamin Franklin: You’ve Got Mail he arrives at the right place and the right time, only to find that Ben is on the run from angry mobs and his house has been burned down. There’s no hope for the Colonies unless the French can be convinced to join their cause, and so (after raising some funds by selling fake medicine) Ben and Ike set off to France. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had the same idea, and are taking the same boat. Surely with three such statesmen bending their minds to the task all will be well…but when they reach the French king, bad oysters take down the Founding Fathers. It’s up to Ike to save the day. He does, more or less, although with consequences back in his own time (Florida, a state Ike did not hold in high esteem, is now French territory).
Ben and Ike’s goofy adventures and their relationship of mutual irritation, and Ike’s reactions to the past (and the reactions of people in the past to Ike) will amuse many young readers, and irreverent touches of potty humor will appeal to those who find it funny. Historical purists may be irked by inaccuracies (there wouldn’t have been pianos in Colonial taverns, for instance), but those looking for entertainment more than education will not mind.
George Washington's Socks
Paperback $6.99
George Washington's Socks
In Stock Online
Paperback $6.99
George Washington’s Socks, by Elvira Woodruff
Five kids exploring in the woods find an old rowboat, but when they give it a try, they find themselves being carried down the half-frozen Delaware River, just as George Washington is about to try to move his miserable, starving army across it. One of the kids gets separated from the others, and finds himself marching in Washington’s army on a snowy trail spotted by the blood of the feet of the men ahead of him. The kids all see firsthand the horrors of war, and learn that good and bad people can be found on both sides of a conflict. There’s enough adventure to keep things interesting, and it’s a very vivid and accurate picture of one of the most tense moments of the Revolutionary War.
George Washington’s Socks, by Elvira Woodruff
Five kids exploring in the woods find an old rowboat, but when they give it a try, they find themselves being carried down the half-frozen Delaware River, just as George Washington is about to try to move his miserable, starving army across it. One of the kids gets separated from the others, and finds himself marching in Washington’s army on a snowy trail spotted by the blood of the feet of the men ahead of him. The kids all see firsthand the horrors of war, and learn that good and bad people can be found on both sides of a conflict. There’s enough adventure to keep things interesting, and it’s a very vivid and accurate picture of one of the most tense moments of the Revolutionary War.
The sequel, George Washington’s Spy, takes the kids back in time again, this time to colonial Boston, occupied by the British. The boys are held captive by a group of Patriot spies, and the girls are taken in by a wealthy family who support the British. Less tense than the first book, this is still a gripping, historically accurate adventure, with humor provided by kids’ attempts to cope with all the small differences of daily life back in the past.
The Left Behinds: The iPhone that Saved George Washington
Paperback $8.99
The Left Behinds: The iPhone that Saved George Washington
By David Potter
In Stock Online
Paperback $8.99
The Left-Behinds: The iPhone that Saved George Washington, by David Potter
For most of the kids left behind at boarding school for Christmas, going to see a re-enactment of Washington Crossing the Delaware was not the treat they would have chosen. But then one of them, Mel, finds General Washington dead in a stable (which didn’t actually happens), and he realizes he’s travelled back in time. His two best friends have gone back in time too, and they realize that they must come to the rescue of the colonies, or the United States will never exist. Thanks to texts from his history teacher back in the present, Mel realizes that his iPhone was the catalyst that sent them back. But unless he can charge it (so relatable!), the kids can’t get home again. So there in the middle of an 18th century winter (with Washington dead in barn) the three set out, braving hostile Hessians and suspicious colonial kids to find Ben Franklin, the only iPhone charging hope there is (thanks to his experiments with lightning). But that still leaves Washington murdered…so Mel hops back in time again, to foil the killers…It’s an exciting adventure, brightened with many touches of humor.
The Left-Behinds: The iPhone that Saved George Washington, by David Potter
For most of the kids left behind at boarding school for Christmas, going to see a re-enactment of Washington Crossing the Delaware was not the treat they would have chosen. But then one of them, Mel, finds General Washington dead in a stable (which didn’t actually happens), and he realizes he’s travelled back in time. His two best friends have gone back in time too, and they realize that they must come to the rescue of the colonies, or the United States will never exist. Thanks to texts from his history teacher back in the present, Mel realizes that his iPhone was the catalyst that sent them back. But unless he can charge it (so relatable!), the kids can’t get home again. So there in the middle of an 18th century winter (with Washington dead in barn) the three set out, braving hostile Hessians and suspicious colonial kids to find Ben Franklin, the only iPhone charging hope there is (thanks to his experiments with lightning). But that still leaves Washington murdered…so Mel hops back in time again, to foil the killers…It’s an exciting adventure, brightened with many touches of humor.
What time-travel books do your budding historians enjoy?