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Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?
This lively biography, by Newbery Honor-winning author Jean Fritz, is a nice, personal look at a leader and his times.
In early America, when all the men wore ruffled shirts and rode grandly on horseback, one man refused to follow suit. He was the rebel leader Sam Adams, a plainspoken gent who scorned ruffles, refused to ride a horse, and had little regard for the King.
In early America, when all the men wore ruffled shirts and rode grandly on horseback, one man refused to follow suit. He was the rebel leader Sam Adams, a plainspoken gent who scorned ruffles, refused to ride a horse, and had little regard for the King.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
About the author
Jean Fritz
97 books156 followersJean Guttery Fritz was an American children's writer best known for American biography and history. She won the Children's Legacy Literature Award for her career contribution to American children's literature in 1986. She turned 100 in November 2015 and died in May 2017 at the age of 101.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
April 2, 2023
Interesting tale about getting this man to finally ride a horse, some of his life story....I liked how wanted to walk as he could interact with others, to help understand how the taxes and some rules by Britain were unjust in their treatment of Americans. Great background as I am drawn to history. Ideal short story when not in the mood to tackle much else.
April 6, 2010
My boys say this should actually be 4 1/2 stars. They really enjoyed this quick introduction to Sam Adams. My 6-yr-old loved the mention of his dog, Queue, and was upset when the dog died. We learned a lot about Sam and the events leading up to the revolution.
Although things like the Stamp Act and Boston Tea Party are mentioned briefly it was enough to whet their appetite. Since they are somewhat familiar with them, they were excited to see the part Sam Adams played in history and were anxious to learn more.
This book was funny and the illustrations were well done. I appreciated the subtle focus on his intelligence and ability to read people.
Highly recommended.
Although things like the Stamp Act and Boston Tea Party are mentioned briefly it was enough to whet their appetite. Since they are somewhat familiar with them, they were excited to see the part Sam Adams played in history and were anxious to learn more.
This book was funny and the illustrations were well done. I appreciated the subtle focus on his intelligence and ability to read people.
Highly recommended.
March 5, 2020
This is the book that got me into history as a kid, and kickstarted my special interest in the American Revolution <3
May 31, 2013
What a guy! I know a few people from Boston and I can see some resemblance :-) Good, interesting history book with lots of fun details (especially loved hearing about his dog, Queue that bit the redcoats!) My 7 year old Revolutionary war nut loved it.
December 15, 2011
Fritz writes interesting historical (early United States history) books. These are typical in fourth grade. Today I picked up this book from the bookshelf. It's a fairly quick read.
Admittedly, I didn't know a whole lot about Samuel Adams prior to reading this other than the beer originally brewed (no longer though) in Boston.
Adams was an instigator and was the one behind the Boston Tea Party. Paul Revere's ride was to alarm Adams that the redcoats were looking for him; they weren't pleased that he was responsible for the trouble at Lexington.
According to his second cousin, John Adams, Samuel wasn't a horse rider. Fritz did a good job of describing that trait and weaving it into this biography.
When we arrive at our study of the American Revolution, I will read this book aloud to my students. I think this is something they will enjoy.
Admittedly, I didn't know a whole lot about Samuel Adams prior to reading this other than the beer originally brewed (no longer though) in Boston.
Adams was an instigator and was the one behind the Boston Tea Party. Paul Revere's ride was to alarm Adams that the redcoats were looking for him; they weren't pleased that he was responsible for the trouble at Lexington.
According to his second cousin, John Adams, Samuel wasn't a horse rider. Fritz did a good job of describing that trait and weaving it into this biography.
When we arrive at our study of the American Revolution, I will read this book aloud to my students. I think this is something they will enjoy.
April 7, 2012
Sam would walk everywhere so he could talk to people and "keep them angry with England." You can't have conversations all day from the back of a horse. He walked until his cousin John convinced him that statesmen rode horses. Funny.
January 13, 2018
Hyman's illustrations are a perfect match for the text, which reads smoothly and is very engaging. The author's note provides historical substantiation.
September 19, 2020
Jean Fritz writes historical fiction books for children ages 9-12. The stories help children understand history in a way social studies textbooks cannot. She found interesting facts and used helpful realistic illustrations. She was born in 1915 in China and felt misplaced there as an American. She developed a keen interest in the culture and history of America.
In the book Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? there is a child in many of the illustrations that children will notice. Students would have some fun finding which pictures include a child and which do not. It is as if the child in the drawings is looking at what the child reading the book would be looking at. The illustrator, Trina Schart Hyman, drew detailed and clever pictures to help children relate to history.
The story is about John Adams (who became a President of the United States) arguing and trying to convince his cousin, Sam Adams, into learning to ride a horse. He finally wins the argument and Sam Adams becomes convinced he needs to ride a horse, not for dozens of common-sense reasons, but because he wants to have a statue of himself one day. Of course, a statue of a statesman would include a horse!
In the book Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? there is a child in many of the illustrations that children will notice. Students would have some fun finding which pictures include a child and which do not. It is as if the child in the drawings is looking at what the child reading the book would be looking at. The illustrator, Trina Schart Hyman, drew detailed and clever pictures to help children relate to history.
The story is about John Adams (who became a President of the United States) arguing and trying to convince his cousin, Sam Adams, into learning to ride a horse. He finally wins the argument and Sam Adams becomes convinced he needs to ride a horse, not for dozens of common-sense reasons, but because he wants to have a statue of himself one day. Of course, a statue of a statesman would include a horse!
August 29, 2017
This month, while the Old School Kidlit Reading Challenge has been focusing on nonfiction, I decided to finally sit down and read a stack of the late Jean Fritz's books about the history of the United States. In total, I read 8 titles:
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? illustrated by Margot Tomes (1973)
Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (1974)
Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? illustrated by Margot Tomes (1975)
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? illustrated by Margot Tomes (1976)
Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (1976)
Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? illustrated by Tomie dePaola (1977)
Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus? illustrated by Margot Tomes (1980)
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution illustrated by Tomie dePaola (1987)
All of these except the last one are biographies of key figures in early America. In each biography, Fritz focuses on a representative quirk of each individual she profiles, which serves as a unifying thread for the important events of that person's life. For John Hancock, whose signature looms so large on the declaration of independence, this is his desire for attention and the ostentatious ways he went about trying to get it. For Sam Adams, it is his refusal to learn to ride a horse, for Columbus, his terrible sense of direction and tendency to stumble upon good fortune, and for King George, his blind paternalism toward the colonists, even when they have made very clear their disdain for him. In the last book, Shh! We're Writing the Constitution, Fritz tells the story of the difficulties and compromises that occurred among different historical figures as the U.S. Constitution slowly took shape.
In both types of books, Fritz focuses heavily not just on historical events, but on the personalities of the key figures who contributed to the outcomes of these events. Fritz does not simply idolize these men for their greatness; instead she shows both how they were ordinary (stubborn, foolish, insufferable, laughable, quirky, selfish, etc.) and extraordinary. No one is treated as all good or all bad, but instead they are portrayed as very human. For a reader like me who reads books mainly for their characters, I found this approach refreshing and endearing. Whereas I struggle to focus on lengthy informational texts that try to drill details into my memory, the "characters" in each of these books were fascinating to me. As I read in the evenings, I kept saying to my husband, "Hey did you know...?" and "I never knew that..."
None of these books is enough on its own to convey all the details of the discovery of America, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, or the drafting of the Constitution, but every single one of them provides context for understanding those events on a more personal and emotional level. The straightforward facts which are included alongside the biographical details are made more memorable by Fritz's engaging and humorous writing style, and everything she writes about comes to life in a way that school textbooks never could.They would make wonderful read-alouds for elementary kids who are studying colonial America, but they are just as entertaining as independent reads for older readers who want a refresher.
Also wonderful are the illustrations for each volume. There are three illustrators for these books: Margot Tomes, Trina Schart Hyman, and Tomie dePaola. Though all three artists' styles suit the mood and content of the books, my personal favorite is Hyman. Her pictures have the most detail, and in my opinion, the most personality. Tomes is a close second - I especially like the way she draws children - but found that I associated dePaola too much with other books and other genres to feel like he was a good fit for this subject matter. Still, I think the designer for these books did a great job of keeping a consistent look to the whole series that places the reader in a particular frame of mind regardless of who drew the pictures.
Now that I have read all of these books, I understand why they were so popular in my school library during childhood and why I hear so much about them in homeschooling circles. I plan to use them with my kids when we study U.S. history and I hope they will learn to love history (as I never did as a child) by observing how much fun Fritz clearly had writing about it.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? illustrated by Margot Tomes (1973)
Why Don't You Get a Horse, Sam Adams? illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (1974)
Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May? illustrated by Margot Tomes (1975)
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? illustrated by Margot Tomes (1976)
Will You Sign Here, John Hancock? illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman (1976)
Can't You Make Them Behave, King George? illustrated by Tomie dePaola (1977)
Where Do You Think You're Going, Christopher Columbus? illustrated by Margot Tomes (1980)
Shh! We're Writing the Constitution illustrated by Tomie dePaola (1987)
All of these except the last one are biographies of key figures in early America. In each biography, Fritz focuses on a representative quirk of each individual she profiles, which serves as a unifying thread for the important events of that person's life. For John Hancock, whose signature looms so large on the declaration of independence, this is his desire for attention and the ostentatious ways he went about trying to get it. For Sam Adams, it is his refusal to learn to ride a horse, for Columbus, his terrible sense of direction and tendency to stumble upon good fortune, and for King George, his blind paternalism toward the colonists, even when they have made very clear their disdain for him. In the last book, Shh! We're Writing the Constitution, Fritz tells the story of the difficulties and compromises that occurred among different historical figures as the U.S. Constitution slowly took shape.
In both types of books, Fritz focuses heavily not just on historical events, but on the personalities of the key figures who contributed to the outcomes of these events. Fritz does not simply idolize these men for their greatness; instead she shows both how they were ordinary (stubborn, foolish, insufferable, laughable, quirky, selfish, etc.) and extraordinary. No one is treated as all good or all bad, but instead they are portrayed as very human. For a reader like me who reads books mainly for their characters, I found this approach refreshing and endearing. Whereas I struggle to focus on lengthy informational texts that try to drill details into my memory, the "characters" in each of these books were fascinating to me. As I read in the evenings, I kept saying to my husband, "Hey did you know...?" and "I never knew that..."
None of these books is enough on its own to convey all the details of the discovery of America, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Revolutionary War, or the drafting of the Constitution, but every single one of them provides context for understanding those events on a more personal and emotional level. The straightforward facts which are included alongside the biographical details are made more memorable by Fritz's engaging and humorous writing style, and everything she writes about comes to life in a way that school textbooks never could.They would make wonderful read-alouds for elementary kids who are studying colonial America, but they are just as entertaining as independent reads for older readers who want a refresher.
Also wonderful are the illustrations for each volume. There are three illustrators for these books: Margot Tomes, Trina Schart Hyman, and Tomie dePaola. Though all three artists' styles suit the mood and content of the books, my personal favorite is Hyman. Her pictures have the most detail, and in my opinion, the most personality. Tomes is a close second - I especially like the way she draws children - but found that I associated dePaola too much with other books and other genres to feel like he was a good fit for this subject matter. Still, I think the designer for these books did a great job of keeping a consistent look to the whole series that places the reader in a particular frame of mind regardless of who drew the pictures.
Now that I have read all of these books, I understand why they were so popular in my school library during childhood and why I hear so much about them in homeschooling circles. I plan to use them with my kids when we study U.S. history and I hope they will learn to love history (as I never did as a child) by observing how much fun Fritz clearly had writing about it.
This review also appears on my blog, Read-at-Home Mom.
May 4, 2025
In my opinion, this is one of Jean Fritz's more charming biographies. There is something quintessentially appealing about preferring to walk when it serves better than riding, over all entreaties and implorations. My daughter and I particularly enjoyed the illustrations by Trina Schart Hyman. They manage to feel both historically accurate and whimsically casual, an interesting visual contradiction.
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January 4, 2022It came up on a "because you read..." and I'm like, I've read this, and a slew of other Jean Fritz picture books. May be worth finding a collection of these for future library purposes.
February 20, 2017
The children and I REALLY enjoyed this one. We are a household of strong willed people and there were many aspects of this story we could all identify with. It also did a great job of tying a real person to a few very big events in history. A great catalyst to study them further (The Boston Massacre and The Boston Tea Party). Samuel Adams was a misfit and that's what makes him so lovable. In the end though, even "fire starters" have to evaluate their own desires and comfort for what's best for the whole. Great lesson on compromise and knowing when to speak up. The extra parts about his companion Newfoundland was the cherry on top!
March 29, 2016
Why don't you get a horse, Sam Adams? is a biography about Samuel Adams and even has the exact instructions from John Adams of how to ride a horse. This wasn't necessarily my favorite biography, though it does present the facts. The pictures are on the dull end so I think it is going to be harder to get kids excited to read this book when there are much more exciting things out there for them to look at. It is factual and longer than a typical picture book so that was good but I can't say I would rush to buy this one for my class library.
November 18, 2017
This book is so cute! It is a biography about Samuel Adams, but it tells his life story in a funny way. Everything they talk about, they relate back to Sam Adams not wanting to ride a horse! This was the most innovative biography I have read by Jean Fritz and the one I would most likely use in my future classroom.
December 21, 2018
This is an informative yet entertaining read about Sam Adams, rebel rouser in the fight for American independence. What I enjoyed most about this book was learning that England's Public Enemy #1 had a serious aversion to riding horses; even when it might mean not being able to quickly escape from Red Coats coming to arrest him.
March 19, 2008
Biography on Sam Adams and his involvement with the Revolution. The story's plot centers around Sam Adams and his refusal to ride a horse as he walks everywhere. I didn't know too much about Sam Adams, and so enjoyed this book.
February 16, 2010
it good because in the frist statue he has no hrse in the second one he has a horse i like the book because he falls of the horse when they teach him how to ride the horse the whole story is about him geting a horse
October 4, 2016
A fantastic writer, Jean Fritz has written another lighthearted yet engaging account of Sam Adams, one of the early political leaders in U.S. American history. He is especially known for enacting the "Committees of Correspondence" and also helped instigate the famous Boston Tea Party of of 1773.
January 21, 2008
Pretty good beer!!!
April 9, 2008
Great storytelling! I love Fritz's books because they can be read in one sitting and have so much information packed in an entertaining read.
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July 18, 2009On the suggested summer reading list for students.
April 23, 2011
Cute way to learn a bit about the Amer. Rev.
April 7, 2012
I like any book that teaches children history in a fun way.
Read
April 22, 2012I have enjoyed all of Jean Fritz's books, I think I know all about a person she has written about, but she has ALWAYS found some small bit of information that I find fascinating.
September 24, 2014
Jacob and mom rated the book 3 1/2 stars. Ellie rated the book 5 stars because it had horses in it and she loves horses.
December 18, 2015
This is a great biography because kids can relate not just to Sam Adams, but to his dog, Queue to has his own story within.
May 14, 2016
it wwasssssssssdfgh terrible
March 6, 2017
We have very much enjoyed the set of books by Jean Fritz about early American historical figures. This one is a little longer, but still enjoyable and full of fun tidbits about Sam Adams.
June 14, 2018
Well told. Revolutionary War. Great for background knowledge. Fifth Grade.
May 15, 2019
This is a short story about Samuel Adams and his refusal to learn how to ride a horse. He was a true Patriot and a real thorn in the side of anything having to do with Great Britain. I wonder if he'd ever traveled to England, if he'd still feel the same way? Anyway, Sam HAS to learn how to ride a horse to get down to Philadelphia from Boston (we know why)...and a hilarious part is that his BUTT is so sore in Connecticut, he has to stop and have padded pants ordered for him, because he could barely move! I like most of Jean Fritz's ways with words and this one was great - even if it was a little short.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews