Yankee Doodle

by Steven Kellogg

Set to the tune of the same name, a colorfully illustrated picture book captures Yankee Doodle riding through the Revolutionary War spying on the Redcoats and cheering George Washington's troops on to victory.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Music, History

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1989

About the author

Steven Kellogg is an author and illustrator who has contributed over 90 books for children. He is best known for writing books about animals, for which he credits his grandmother .

Reviews

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone knows the chorus to "Yankee Doodle" ... but do you know any of the verses?

I didn't, and it was fun to not only learn of them, but see them depicted. Especially since the composer, Edward Bangs, was a minuteman and wrote this song based on what he saw.

One fun fact that was not disclosed in this book is the meaning of a "macaroni." To find out that fascinating little tidbit, I recommend reading David McCullough's 1776 (for you of course, not the kids, haha!). I don't know why, but I thought that whole story was so interesting!

Ages: 4 - 8

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[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Steven Kellogg's always fantastic illustrations accompany what I believe are the full lyrics to the classic American tune, "Yankee Doodle." I don't think I've ever actually heard beyond the first or second verse so I was enlightened.
If reading this with young children some clarification will definitely be required as many of the terms are now obsolete. I'm not typically fan of books where the text is simply the lyrics of a song and I cannot say this is one I would choose to revisit. However, Steven Kellogg is a favorite of mine so, were I to need this for a classroom lesson, this would definitely be my version of choice.

[Kathryn]

Yankee Doodle is a fantastic folklore book for young readers! The setting takes place in war times with the British and American Soldiers at war. Located in the fly papers, there is text regarding the history of Yankee Doodle with information about the song. In this picture book, there is poetry as well that keeps readers engaged. The little boy tells the story of war through his eyes. He hears gunshots, sees troopers galloping and digging graves. He gets scared and runs back home, where he feels safe. Throughout the book, there are two spreads that stick out. The first powerful spread is on the page where the illustrations take up two pages. There are no words on this page, just the illustration of two armies fighting each other. Vibrant colors are used and there is action taking place in every corner! Another great spread is the last page. This page also does not have words, but it shows the community coming together. Everyone is happy, flying American Flags and enjoying time together. This is a delightful book from the past!

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, this book is a rendition of the song plus verses long lost. Second, if you sing it and clap along it makes this book absolutely perfect.

[JadeShea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cute story. It is fun how you can read it like a song. I enjoy how it explains some of the beginning history of America. The story has action, and great illustrations as well. I enjoyed this one a lot. I also think this would be good to use in the classroom when discussing social studies. You can make tricorn hats, and use and have the students sing the yankee doodle song. It would bring music into social studies as well.

[Paula Shreckhise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully illustrated book about the song Yankee Doodle Dandy. There is really a lot of history in this book. Kids will love to learn while having fun doing it! Section in the back with extra definitions and tips to help parents. Would make a great gift for the grandkids!

[Arsenio Richardson]

The Yankee Doodle book is good size which means it is not too big or too small. It would fit nice and good about any book shelf. Since the book is square, I feel like the point being made is classical. With squares all sides are equal which would make some readers more comfortable. The cover of the book has many different things going but it is still organized enough so that the reader still knows what it going on. This book does not have a book jacket like many other children’s books. The front paper has the riddle about Yankee Doodle that everybody sang as a kid, which made me like the book even more.

[Taya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give a lot of credit to this book for the information that it puts in the end pages, but I do not like how the pictures and the text interact with each other. The amount of white space on every page was distracting. The pictures were so small and full of detail that they could have made much more use out of the extra space. Considering it is a well known story that has been used by many different authors and illustrators, I feel as though more could have been done to make this piece unique and interesting for the reader.

[Samantha Grimaldi]

This book goes through the lyrics of Yankee Doodle Dandy with illustrations. The pictures show the progress of the Revolutionary War. A quick read that kids could have fun singing along to and could be used as an introductory piece.

[Cws]

JEPIC-Kell

[Maren Prestegaard · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was kinda weird for me.
i like the history but the story was hard to follow and the pictures a little too much.

[Hahnna Christianson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This historical fiction picturebook was a new and interesting way to teach children about the American Revolution. With the inclusion of the popular song and vivid illustrations, this book does a great job at teaching children about this era in our history. The clothing, hair, and land are historically accurate and the author uses language that would be used in that time period. At the end of the book the author includes a note about Yankee Doodle and the purpose of the book, as well as some deeper understanding to some of the vocabulary that was used. Yankee Doodle is a great example of a historical fiction book that makes learning about America's past fun for young readers.

[Kendra]

Yankee Doodle by Steven Kellogg was one of my favorite informational text books that I have read. It was such a kid-friendly book that really helped the kids understand what happened through the Revolutionary War. It was not too boring, or too serious, and this was a really intelligent way to put facts about a war into a children's book. It followed the general facts pretty well, and it was informational for the age group that this book was written for, which is younger elementary students.

The images were very kid-friendly as well. I loved the uniqueness of the characters. Making them look somewhat 'not-human' made this book more appropriate for kids because it was talking about the war. Also, I think that including the Yankee Doodle song - a popular song amongst kids - throughout the book, made it fun and easy to read. It gave the kids a chance to sing along to a popular song, as well as learning new things about history.