Trouble Ahead
Robert Lawson
This timeless 1944 Newberry classic is a tale of paranoia ungrounded, based on experience. Would new tenants bring dogs, guns, traps and poison? Or would they plant rich lawns and gardens? Spry, happy Little Georgie's adventures and song build suspense when his parents send him to Danbury to fetch cynical, likeable, elderly, wise Uncle Analdas to visit for the summer and join the anticipation. Things turn out better than ever hoped for. Despite dreadful fears and worst case scenarios there's plenty of fresh vegetables for all the small animals in the neighborhood, only to end when the husband's pipe the animals like so much kills him, and his wife too from second-hand smoke. This novel was written in the days before the brave 1950s TV journalist Edward R Murrow publicly linked tobacco to cancer and heart disease. Despite this flaw you'll treasure this novel for life once you read it at any age. Lawson's drawings show the animals as a distinct anthropomorphic community of friends and families living in the bushes and groves surrounding the farmhouse.
Series
Various authors
These are among my favorite childrens' series. DK literature, including illustrated annotations from the author's life and the historical era in which the book was written; Landmark Books on American and world history; Real Books about various topics, mostly recreational and scientific. They tell the story in understandable form, putting you the reader right in the middle of the story. It's all there. You learn something from each book. Isn't that fun?
Album of Delegates
Dennis Brindel Fradin
These are the state by state short biographies of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence. Many of them signed on August 2, 1776 or even later. In those days life was short, health was poor and transportation and communication was slow. Men entered college at around 14, held multiple offices, married cousins and had many children, not all of whom survived into adulthood. Doctors and lawyers learned their trades as apprentices. Signers were mostly doctors, lawyers, merchants, ministers and farmers. Some were born or educated overseas. Some were educated at home by their parents.
Most of the signers, wanted by the British, lost their lives, families and property during the war but had no regrets in the fight for American independence. Many of them left Congress (held in Philadelphia at the time) to serve in the Continental Army. After the war ended, many served as governor of their state and helped frame the United States Consitution or that of their states. 6 of these signers also signed the Constitution but only one, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, signed all four documents: The Articles of Association of 1774, The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. William Paca of Maryland, hearing citizen complaints that the Constitution didn't protect their rights, suggested many of its amendments comprising the Bill of Rights.
Michael McCurdy's stunning scratchboard illustrations are taken from portraits and paintings, each signer with his portrait and an important detail from his life. The cover picure and title page detail repeat the theme of patriot John Hancock, after he and fellow Massachussetts pro-independence delegate and signer Sam Adams barely escaped British capture and hanging, signing the document on July 4, 1776 and triumphantly saying, "There! John Bull can read my name without spectacles and double his reward on my head!"
The book's chapter maps show southern colonies Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia as stretching almost due east from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. Maine at the time was the northern part of Massachussetts, just beyond New Hampshire, and twice today's size. Vermont is shown as part of New York. Northern colonies were established or taken over from the Netherlands and renamed by the British in the 1600s. Southern colonies, established by Spain in the 1500s, were taken over by England in the 1600s.
Reading in progress
Reading in progress
Reading in progress
Reading in progress