King
George, What was his problem? The Whole Hilarious
Story of the American Revolution was a real find for me. The author, Steve Sheinkin, is a former textbook writer. You must read his “confessions” note at the
very beginning. He always regretted the
fact that charts and graphs had to replace some of the more interesting or
entertaining bits of history. He vowed
to someday put these into his own book.
Now he has done it! This is the
only one that I have read but I am positive that I will read the other two I
saw on the back cover. He sets up the
book in conversational, short segments that flow into each other so that no
facts are lost but you also don’t feel encumbered by them. You find yourself chuckling or remarking,
“What? Really?” For example, one night John Adams and Ben
Franklin had to share a bed when they were traveling on Congress business. Adams wanted the window closed; Franklin
wanted it open. “Open the window and
come to bed and I will convince you. I
believe you are not acquainted with my theory of colds.” Adams recalled “I was so much amused that I
soon fell asleep and left him and his philosophy together.“ (Sheinkin, 2012,
77)
At the end, you find “What ever happened to…..” a list of
the “main characters” and their lives following the revolution. Such a brilliant idea to include this! There is also an extensive list of source
notes.
Of course, as you can see from what
I have already written, I just loved this book and I know that other teachers
would be thrilled with it also. What a
great way to gain history lovers and inspire curiosity. English teachers would also appreciate his
writing style and I am sure that many student projects could use his work as a
jumping off point.
I will be sure to check these out
in the near future….
Two
Miserable Presidents, The Amazing, Terrible, and Totally True Story of
the Civil War
and
Which
Way to the Wild West?
Please keep writing Mr. Sheinkin. There is so much more to cover….
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