Joining the Boston Tea Party

Time-Traveling Twins #2

by Diane Stanley, Holly Berry (Illustrator)

Liz, Lenny, and Grandma are back for another time-traveling adventure. With the Fourth of July fast approaching, there's only one thing for them to do ... Join the Boston Tea Party! With the help of Grandma's magic hat, the twins journey back to Boston in 1773. From powdered wigs and petticoats to Indian pudding and chamber pots, Liz and Lenny get a firsthand look at life in colonial America. But best of all they actually join the "Mohawks" as they dump tea into Boston Harbor and help begin the American Revolution. Diane Stanley once again blends humor and historical detail in this exciting second installment of the Time-Traveling Twins series. Featuring word balloons packed with comedy and lots of information, and Holly Berry's inviting illustrations, this book will make readers jump at the chance to join the twins as they learn about history by living it!

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Picture Books, Childrens, American History

48 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2001

About the author

Diane Stanley is an American children's author and illustrator, a former medical illustrator, and a former art director for the publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons. Born in 1943 in Abilene, Texas, she was educated at Trinity University (in San Antonio, TX) and at Johns Hopkins University. She is perhaps best known for her many picture-book biographies, some of which were co-authored by her husband, Peter Vennema. (source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Michaela Klegseth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story tells of a tale of a pair of twins and their grandmother taking a adventure to the Boston tea party. It shows the children using their imagination and it shows children that they can use their imagination even with history. The adventure was a first hand experience and that the children can see what it was actually like. It gave them the idea of how they lived and what they wore. This book can be a tool to introduce the idea of the tea party and can make a fun experience with this piece of history. The plot was to help children to understand the tea party and why it happened. The grandma gave the children this experience but they used their imagination to understand it.If they had stories like this when i was younger i would have liked history more. The writing made you imagine in your own head while reading it.

[Lady reading under the Willow · Rating 3 out of 5]

We liked this book, but it did have some unkind name-calling in the dialogue.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting way to describe events in history. This is the second book in the Time Traveling Twins series by Diane Stanley, but it's the first we've read. It's a little advanced for our girls (more for older children who can read on their own), but they enjoyed the story.

We read this book while visiting my husband's sister and her family in Massachusetts. I thought it was appropriate to share some Massachusetts history with our girls, especially since we live so far away. Both of our girls and their two cousins listened in as I read the story aloud and we talked a little bit about the historical event.

The narrative is a bit long and there's lots of dialogue, making it a little tough to read aloud. The illustrations are colorful and cartoonish and help tell the story, too.

[Christine Turner]

Liz, Lenny, and Grandma are back for another time-traveling adventure. With the Fourth of July fast approaching, there's only one thing for them to do ...Join the Boston Tea Party!
With the help of Grandma's magic hat, the twins journey back to Boston in 1773. From powdered wigs and petticoats to Indian pudding and chamber pots, Liz and Lenny get a firsthand look at life in colonial America. But best of all they actually join the "Mohawks" as they dump tea into Boston Harbor and help begin the American Revolution. Diane Stanley once again blends humor and historical detail in this exciting second installment of the Time-Traveling Twins series. Featuring word balloons packed with comedy and lots of information, and Holly Berry's inviting illustrations, this book will make readers jump at the chance to join the twins as they learn about history by living it!

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: The twins go to their grandmothers house, when they visit her, they go on an adventure back in time to the Boston Tea Party. They participate in throwing the tea into the water after they dressed up like Indians.

Reflections: Pages are long with a lot of words (especially in the captions). Imaginative and humorous with the captions, although the idea of going back in time is not realistic a teacher can still do a related activity in class.

Themes/Connections:
Relive a historical event, Revolutionary War, Boston Tea Party, Imagination, Grandparents

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really succeeds in helping you feel like you are back in time with the twins. Also the speech bubbles are fun and the detailed pictures are very interesting. My daughter loves stories about the Revolution and this is a great one.

We also like the other two Traveling Twin books and wish there were more!

[Sharlene Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The twins travel back in time with their grandmother to experience what it was like to live through the Boston Tea party. The story explained what it was like to live during that era and the items that were in fashion.

[Jamie]

This is an adventurous story when the twins and grandma go back into history to Boston 1773. They experience the events of the Boston Tea Party. This book is an interesting book to get children engaged in the history events of the Boston Tea Party.

[Colleen]

Freedom's Trail - unit 4
Fiction

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another book about Liz & Lenny the time traveling twins. I think that I would like to visit the Freedom Trail on Boston.

[Brianna Boyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book to introduce the Boston Tea Party. It can easily be reenacted and will make it easier for students to understand.