Heroes of the Revolution

by David A. Adler

Whether spying on the British or rescuing fallen soldiers on the battlefield, the 12 men and women in this collection stand out as heroic figures. Each spread includes a brief, anecdotal text and a stylized painting of the individual in action. Entries are alphabetical, include birth and death dates, and contain details only about the person's contribution to the war. For example, George Washington's biography discusses his role as the commander of the Continental army. Other figures include Ethan Allen, Crispus Attucks, Lydia Darragh, Nathan Hale, Mary "Molly Pitcher" Hays, Thomas Jefferson, John Paul Jones, Thomas Paine, Paul Revere, Haym Salomon, and Deborah Sampson. A chronology and author's notes provide additional information. Teachers looking to introduce the war to children and students looking for ideas for reports will find this title an engaging place to start.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History, Picture Books, American Revolution

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

David Abraham Adler is an American children's author. He was born in New York City, New York in 1947. He graduated from Queens College in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in economics and education. For the next nine years, he worked as a mathematics teacher for the New York City Board of Education, while taking classes towards a master's degree in marketing, a degree he was awarded by New York University in 1971. In that same year, a question from his then-three-year-old nephew inspired Adler to write his first story, A Little at a Time, subsequently published by Random House in 1976. Adler's next project, a series of math books, drew on his experience as a math teacher. In 1977, he created his most famous character, Cam Jansen, originally featured in Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds, which was published that year.

Adler married psychologist Renee Hamada in 1973, and their first child, Michael, was born in 1977. By that time Adler had taken a break from teaching and, while his wife continued her work, he stayed home, took care of Michael, and began a full-time writing career.

Adler's son, Michael S. Adler, is now the co-author of several books with his father, including A Picture Book of Sam Adams, A Picture Book of John Hancock, and A Picture Book of James and Dolly Madison. Another son, Edward, was the inspiration for Adler's Andy Russell series, with the events described in the series loosely based on adventures the Adler family had with Edward's enthusiasm and his pets.

As of November 2008, Adler has three sons and two grandsons. He lives in Woodmere, New York.

(source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the content of this book from Scholastic overall, but what I really liked about it was that it worked well for reading to my whole group of children as part of our Together Time. I'd been wanting to supplement/reinforce American history knowledge as a group, and this was a good way to ease into that. It has very short readings about 12 famous people from the American Revolution. I appreciated that there were a variety of people represented. It seemed to keep the interest of the younger ones fairly well. There is an illustration of each one, which they seemed to enjoy. This was a book I happened to already have on hand, so I decided to give it a try, though it wasn't necessarily something I would have bought for this purpose. But I'm pleased with how it went.

[Julianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, Heroes of the Revolution is a nice book for children and adults to read together. It contains one-page snippets from the lives of twelve patriots of the Revolutionary War, highlighting the events, quotes and achievements that they are most well-known for. What I liked about the book was that it features both men and women, as well as the very famous such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson alongside lesser-known, but no less important figures such as Lydia Darragh and Haym Salomon. In this way I thought that the book taught a lesson about the smaller contributions to a great cause being just as important as bigger ones. The only thing I might have changed would be making the snippets a little longer, but in spite of their brevity, I was still able to learn a few new things as well as having my memory refreshed on things that I already knew. It would also be great for kids with short attention spans. In spite of it's abreviated nature, some of the vocabulary would probably be rather challenging for younger readers, but would be great for slightly older readers around 7-10 years or for read-aloud with a parent.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I loved! I am really into true stories lately and I don't have a lot of time to read so these page long glimpses into amazing people are refreshing to me. I especially liked the story of Lydia Darragh (1729-1789). "Lydia was a small woman, just five feet tall (just like me). Her neighbors knew her as a mother of five and a nurse. Few people knew that she was a spy for the Continental army." It goes on to say that she hid in a linen closet and spied on the British officers, who used her house for meetings. When she heard of a future attach she snuck out of the house pretending to fill her empty flour bag and told Washington's soliders of the attach. They were prepared and she saved many lives. I love that a five foot tall woman made such a difference.
There are other amazing people too. Nathan Hale who was hanged for his work, Mary Hays who fought with the men giving them water and filling the cannons too, Deborah Sampson who dressed as a man to fight. So many helped.

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cheesy, short synopses about several Revolutionary War "heroes." I use it during our My Brother Sam is Dead unit to stir up controversy. I read the short description of Crispus Attuck's acts and ask the kids to respond in writing, "Was he a HERO?" They are always divided, but the piece has just the right amount of details to support both opinions. I have a lot of fun with this, and no other text has been quite as perfect for this task. LOW reading level.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short one-page biographies are accompanied by a facing portrait in this introduction to key players in the Revolutionary War. Some are very familiar like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, some not so much like Haym Salomon and Deborah Sampson. A couple of women and African Americans are included for balance. I was glad to find bios for Nathan Hale, John Paul Jones and Ethan Allen, who are often forgotten.An excellent introduction and accompaniment to an American History unit.

[Nicole Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thisis a childnren's picture book that has short biographies of different people during the American Revolution. It shows people that are usually not talked about but that were very important to this moment in history. I would use this book as a resource for a historical characters projects. The students could get all the information that they need in a way they could easily understand.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very interesting. It has a one page description about each of the heroes it descusses. Very easy to read and important for the kids to read and learn about what people did to make sure they are free today.