What do you think?
Rate this book
Ethan Allen
This biography of Ethan Allen is a reprint of the first illustrated edition published in 1958. In this volume Ethan Allen becomes more than a myth. Holbrook - one of the West's most famous writers - presents the life and legends of Colonel Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain boys of the American Revolution in a highly informative and entertaining manner. Second illustrated edition. 5 1/2 x 8/1/2. 296 pages.
283 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
About the author
Stewart H. Holbrook
65 books10 followersStewart Hall Holbrook (1893 - 1964) was an American lumberjack, writer, and popular historian. His writings focused on what he called the "Far Corner" - Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. A self-proclaimed "low-brow" historian, his topics included Ethan Allen, the railroads, the timber industry, the Wobblies, and eccentrics of the Pacific Northwest.
He wrote for The Oregonian for over thirty years, and authored dozens of books. He also produced a number of paintings under the pseudonym of "Mr. Otis."
He wrote for The Oregonian for over thirty years, and authored dozens of books. He also produced a number of paintings under the pseudonym of "Mr. Otis."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 4, 2018
I read this book in the Main reading room of the Jefferson Library of Congress. It was a very cool experience. Reading under that dome with all the statues of great writers feels like all that wisdom is lifted up and you feel carried away. The room was quite and the reading tables are shaped in concentric circles. You could hear the crowds from the main room like gusts of ghosts in the room. I got my researchers card and I do plan to go back. I needed to request many of the offsite books early and I did not. So, I have to go back and I’m looking forward to that. I will have to check out the Madison Library of Congress which is next door next time, but that dome in the Jefferson library is so cool to read under. The tourist looking in could see me reading today. I spent the day there and it was a great day. I can also go in during researcher time when the building is closed to tourist. I had a blast.
This is not a children’s book, this is a middle grade book for readers. It’s a hundred pages of type with a full spread picture breaking it up here and there. It is also very bloody and gory for children. It is about Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain Men in Vermont. He played a role in the American Revolution. It took an hour to read. Not a great bedtime story. The story is harsh and cold and blood-thirsty. It does not give any sort of well-round account of Ethan Allen, but more a glorying in his violence.
The artwork is gorgeous. It has very fine details like Baroque Art and it alternates between color and black and white. There are some full page pictures and texts.
He grew up during the French American war. I didn’t know this little piece of history. I did learn a lot from the book. The English using New York sold land in Vermont through New York and the New Hampshire governor. So different people bought the same land and caused all kinds of issues. Yorkers said only their sale was legal in a court that was English backed. Ethan Allen raise an army to defend the settlers land who were already settled there.
Ethan Allen then took Fort Ticonderoga all on his own in 1775. He uttered the supposedly famous phrase “in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!”, I claim this fort he told the British Lieuatenaut Feltham when he surrendered.
It’s very long and not a children’s picture book. It’s very bloody and Ethan Allen was savage and a war hawk. He was brutal.
I enjoyed the art and it was an interesting story that I’m glad I know. I can’t say it was the best story. He does not make a great protagonist in my opinion.
This is not a children’s book, this is a middle grade book for readers. It’s a hundred pages of type with a full spread picture breaking it up here and there. It is also very bloody and gory for children. It is about Ethan Allen of the Green Mountain Men in Vermont. He played a role in the American Revolution. It took an hour to read. Not a great bedtime story. The story is harsh and cold and blood-thirsty. It does not give any sort of well-round account of Ethan Allen, but more a glorying in his violence.
The artwork is gorgeous. It has very fine details like Baroque Art and it alternates between color and black and white. There are some full page pictures and texts.
He grew up during the French American war. I didn’t know this little piece of history. I did learn a lot from the book. The English using New York sold land in Vermont through New York and the New Hampshire governor. So different people bought the same land and caused all kinds of issues. Yorkers said only their sale was legal in a court that was English backed. Ethan Allen raise an army to defend the settlers land who were already settled there.
Ethan Allen then took Fort Ticonderoga all on his own in 1775. He uttered the supposedly famous phrase “in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!”, I claim this fort he told the British Lieuatenaut Feltham when he surrendered.
It’s very long and not a children’s picture book. It’s very bloody and Ethan Allen was savage and a war hawk. He was brutal.
I enjoyed the art and it was an interesting story that I’m glad I know. I can’t say it was the best story. He does not make a great protagonist in my opinion.
March 28, 2014
I will admit, that I was a little hesitant to read this as the last book illustrated by Lynd Ward ("The Biggest Bear", which won the 1953 Caldecott Award), I was really not a fan of as it involved bear-killing for sport. This book won a 1950 Caldecott Honor. My biggest complaint about this book is the length. It’s about 96 pages, granted that’s with illustrations, but still, that’s a really long book for a child. This is especially true because the subject matter sounds like it was taken almost directly from a history textbook, with a bit of a dramatic flair added. I’ll be honest though, I didn’t know much of anything about how New Hampshire and Vermont were created, so that part was interesting. Despite the length, I found it to be an interesting read.
Ethan Allen, who I associate with furniture (not sure of the link in actuality), was in reality a man born in the early days of the American Colony. He had a great capacity for learning and business and succeeded in both. He eventually bought land through the New Hampshire Grants, and settled his family there. The only problem was that while they were selling it to settlers in Connecticut, they were also selling the land to New Yorkers. The Connecticut folks were settling there, while the New Yorkers were just using it to sell on to others and had no intention of actually living there. Ethan Allen became the head of the “Green Mountain Boys” an untrained militia that protected the New Hampshire settlers from the Yorkers. The year 1775 rolled around and Ethan Allen thought it would be a great idea to take Fort Ticonderoga, occupied by British troops. So he gathered a small army and set out for the fort, where they were met by an actual Colonial officer Benedict Arnold, who had been sent to lead the army. This didn’t sit well with the Green Mountain Boys and Ethan Allen, who allow him to be at the head with Allen but not lead. The patriots easily take the vulnerable Fort Ticonderoga and a smaller second fort. Allen tried helping the Continental Army take Montreal, but they failed and he was captured, along with about thirty of his men, and sent back to London for execution. But the English did not kill them, and instead sent them on a boat back to the Colonies. The British tried to offer Ethan a commission in the British army, but he turned them down, as he was a fierce patriot. He spent three years in a Colonial prison managed by the British until he was finally released back to the New Hampshire Grants, though Ethan’s home was now called Vermont. He died in 1789. Vermont became a state and part of the new United States in 1791. Recommended for ages 7-10 years old, 3 stars.
Ethan Allen, who I associate with furniture (not sure of the link in actuality), was in reality a man born in the early days of the American Colony. He had a great capacity for learning and business and succeeded in both. He eventually bought land through the New Hampshire Grants, and settled his family there. The only problem was that while they were selling it to settlers in Connecticut, they were also selling the land to New Yorkers. The Connecticut folks were settling there, while the New Yorkers were just using it to sell on to others and had no intention of actually living there. Ethan Allen became the head of the “Green Mountain Boys” an untrained militia that protected the New Hampshire settlers from the Yorkers. The year 1775 rolled around and Ethan Allen thought it would be a great idea to take Fort Ticonderoga, occupied by British troops. So he gathered a small army and set out for the fort, where they were met by an actual Colonial officer Benedict Arnold, who had been sent to lead the army. This didn’t sit well with the Green Mountain Boys and Ethan Allen, who allow him to be at the head with Allen but not lead. The patriots easily take the vulnerable Fort Ticonderoga and a smaller second fort. Allen tried helping the Continental Army take Montreal, but they failed and he was captured, along with about thirty of his men, and sent back to London for execution. But the English did not kill them, and instead sent them on a boat back to the Colonies. The British tried to offer Ethan a commission in the British army, but he turned them down, as he was a fierce patriot. He spent three years in a Colonial prison managed by the British until he was finally released back to the New Hampshire Grants, though Ethan’s home was now called Vermont. He died in 1789. Vermont became a state and part of the new United States in 1791. Recommended for ages 7-10 years old, 3 stars.
April 17, 2015
This was written without feeling or good pacing, with characters introduced and left by the wayside, and the only thing left is the fact that Ethan Allen, frankly, seems like kind of a dick. I felt like I was reading a book report from a fourth grader who didn't really care about history, or Ethan Allen, or anything at all. The art was better than the story, but not enough to make it worthwhile.
October 5, 2017
This is a lengthy biography glorifying the life of Ethan Allen. I learned a lot from it, but part of me felt like I was reading about Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Ethan Allen is a big strong guy with a big mouth who gets his way by force. It felt weird to me that we were glorifying his bullying without considering the other sides of the story. America’s Ethan Allen seems to fit the same attitudes expressed in They Were Strong and Good. It sings the praises of an American hero, but doesn’t think very critically about his life or role in history. My favorite illustration is on page 53, where the Green Mountain Boys approach Sheriff Patterson from either side of a church. I like the reader’s interesting vantage point behind and above the church.
November 5, 2014
Always interested in history, and since we vacation in Vermont, this seemed a good choice. Published in 1949 and found in the old Nazareth Academy Library, it was a promotional piece written for children. I'm sure there were some facts, but they were hard to find among the author's interpretation of the feelings of the main characters.
March 2, 2020
The subtly shaded black-and-white illustrations contrast with those in beautiful colors. The exciting story is engagingly told, straightforward in the dialogue with more sophisticated vocabulary in the narrative.
February 1, 2018
• 1950 Caldecott Honor Book •
I have to admit I didn’t know who Ethan Allen was, and when I started reading this I thought it was a folktale since Ethan Allen is portrayed really large Paul Bunyan style. The story is interesting but the text is really dry. It’s a patriotic book: Allen was one of the founders of Vermont, leader of the Green Mountain Boys (who captured Fort Ticonderoga), a Colonel in the Continental Army, and was offered a position in the British army which he turned down because he was a patriot.
The art by Lynd Ward is stunning. There’s an image on page 49 of a group of men fighting and their bodies are twisted and turning and the color is just right so that it looks like a fire ablaze. Just really brilliant.
The Caldecotts are really about the art, so I can see why this won an Honor Award but the text is just so dry.
This was a hard Caldecott book to get ahold of - I found a copy at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee’s Special Collections!
Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted
I have to admit I didn’t know who Ethan Allen was, and when I started reading this I thought it was a folktale since Ethan Allen is portrayed really large Paul Bunyan style. The story is interesting but the text is really dry. It’s a patriotic book: Allen was one of the founders of Vermont, leader of the Green Mountain Boys (who captured Fort Ticonderoga), a Colonel in the Continental Army, and was offered a position in the British army which he turned down because he was a patriot.
The art by Lynd Ward is stunning. There’s an image on page 49 of a group of men fighting and their bodies are twisted and turning and the color is just right so that it looks like a fire ablaze. Just really brilliant.
The Caldecotts are really about the art, so I can see why this won an Honor Award but the text is just so dry.
This was a hard Caldecott book to get ahold of - I found a copy at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee’s Special Collections!
Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted
May 10, 2014
Ethan Allen is decently written and is easy to stay with. It's a portrait of a determined, tenacious, self-driven man who held strong leadership qualities and ability to foresee problems and plan ahead. As a portrait, it doesn't have a storyline, but the ground on which this man lived his life unfolds across the French & Indian War (it really was the first world war), colonial pre-revolutionary & revolutionary war for independence and the post-revolution period. The staunch figure of Allen is stamped all across the history of the period. I was completely ignorant of Vermont's struggle in gaining statehood. What an ordeal! Ultimately, the author's book provides the vista to view the politics (power) and profiteering (greed) of the time that steered the course to Vermont statehood.
July 8, 2012
A biography of the fearless American, Ethan Allen. The text reads more like a story than a traditional biography which is usually broken up into section that cover birth, education, death etc. The book reads like a factual tall tale with Ethan Allen the mighty man at the center. Illustrations were both black and white and full color, some were wordless 2 page spreads, none of them particularly moved me enough to write about. Good hero story about a real person, though I doubt it would find an audience today.
February 22, 2013
This isn't so much a children's illustrated book as an illustrated history of an American hero - plenty of text adding up to just under a hundred pages. (The Vermont population would have been a huge market for the book when it was published in 1949.) The narrative doesn't slow down to fill in a lot of detail of side stories but moves along fairly quickly with the illustrations adding some interest to each of the pages. The two-page spreads are the most engaging, most notably the Westminster Massacre.
August 5, 2018
I really enjoyed this Caldecott Honor book. At one hundred pages, it is longer than most Caldecotts, but the illustratuons are stunning and work well to add interest and highlight the text. I have been curious about Ethan Allen since I learned as a child that he was a historical figure, not just a furniture store. I really appreciated this insight into an aspect of the Green Mountain Boys and the Revolutionary Wat.
July 16, 2009
The pictures were beautiful and I have to admit that I love these old biographies. Maybe they are a bit flexible on the facts (like giving the main characters dialogue to help the story along) but if I think of them as biographical fiction, then they are brilliant! :) I do want to know how I missed Ethan Allen in all my history lessons. What an interesting character!
December 15, 2016
TL;DR.
Despite winning a Caldecott Honor, this book is far too long and wordy to read to a child. It's 96 pages long, and the illustrations are mostly in the margins. This is really a novella-length biography, not a picture book. So it's not just wordy, but very long.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
Despite winning a Caldecott Honor, this book is far too long and wordy to read to a child. It's 96 pages long, and the illustrations are mostly in the margins. This is really a novella-length biography, not a picture book. So it's not just wordy, but very long.
For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.
April 18, 2016
This is a biography of Ethan Allen who played a major role in Vermont becoming a state. I found it rather long and it has many offensive words for Native Americans that are outdated. However, there are nice illustrations.
September 1, 2016
Interesting biography and history of early life in New England
Caldecott honor
Caldecott honor
November 17, 2011
A biography, birth to death, of Ethan Allen. It was unexpectedly long for a picture book, and I can see it being used for a book report or history report by an elementary school student.
July 4, 2013
1950 Caldecott honor
October 17, 2017
I previously knew nothing about Ethan Allen. He reminded me of a early frontier Samson.
September 29, 2022
I was surprised by the length and detail of this book considering it is a Caldecott Honor Book. The illustrations are detailed with black and white on every page along with full page color illustrations throughout.
November 23, 2024
I enjoyed this story. The illustrations weren’t impressive but the text was strong enough for me to give this book a 4 star review. Caldecott Honor Book.
February 13, 2012
1950 Caldecott Honor
Favorite illustration: The two page spread near the end where the Green Mountain Boys pay homage to their leader
Kid-appeal: I must confess I skimmed this! It's close to 100 pages long. I like that this is clearly a biography written for children, but I just don't think of this as a "picture book". The use of of dialog makes for a readable history and the illustrations do give a great sense of what life was like in colonial America.
Favorite illustration: The two page spread near the end where the Green Mountain Boys pay homage to their leader
Kid-appeal: I must confess I skimmed this! It's close to 100 pages long. I like that this is clearly a biography written for children, but I just don't think of this as a "picture book". The use of of dialog makes for a readable history and the illustrations do give a great sense of what life was like in colonial America.
October 30, 2023
A short biography of Ethan Allen. I had heard of the Green Mountain Boys before, but I did not know much about them. Allen led them in battles during the Revolutionary War. He got captured and was taken prisoner around the world for three years. I would have liked to know what happened to the group who was supposed to help him in battle before he was captured. I thought the book was all right and the illustrations were all right.
February 23, 2012
Not sure I would consider this a "picture book" by today's standards. More of a novella with illustrations. Interesting book, even if it is a little dated.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews