Synopses & Reviews
*"This well-researched, readable, and well-illustrated book belongs on the shelves of all public and school libraries. Its a wonderful way to learn history." School Library Journal, starred review
*"History buffs or not, all readers will come away better informed about this honored 2'×21/2' sheet of parchment."
Publishers Weekly, starred review
Everyone would agree the one and only Declaration of Independence deservesthe best. After all, it's at the heart of our country. But since it was signed in 1776, the Declaration has had as many ups and downs as the United States itself. It has been rolled up, copied, hidden away and traveled by horseback, sailing vessel, mail truck, railroad car and military tank. After being front and center of a new nation, it has escaped two British invasions and survived for more than two centuries of both peaceful times and devastating wars.What a journey! And it remains proudly the one and only Declaration of Independence.
Judith St. George, author of So You Want to Be President?, and Will Hillenbrand give readers a witty and wonderfully illustrated true story of the invincible Declaration, giving heroic testimony to the grit and determination of the country itself.A fun and fascinating way to share the history of the document that gave the American people their freedom.
Review
Few Americans are aware that "the Declaration of Independence has had more homes than a traveling circus." St. George reveals its interesting, sometimes perilous journey across time since Thomas Jefferson penned the words in 1776. Each leg of the trip is described in bouncy, interactive prose leading to a logical conclusion and a question for readers. For example: "Wow, the official, one-and-only Declaration of Independence was set forever in Philadelphia’s handsome brick Pennsylvania State House on Chestnut Street. Right? WRONG!" Readers will learn fascinating details: the original Declaration was "engrossed–that is, written in large, clear letters on parchment"–by Timothy Matlack onto a two-foot-wide by two-and-a-half-foot-long parchment. The Declaration was shuffled from place to place during the war and for five years after because the quarreling 13 states acted "like thirteen spoiled children." Hillenbrand’s lively mixed-media illustrations are a perfect match for the text, filling the pages with visual energy and humor. Stylized paintings feature creative depictions of major events in American history, such as doctors holding a stethoscope and running tests on an ailing Declaration in desperate need of repair. Children will enjoy finding the eagle on every spread actively engaged in the scene. This well-researched, readable, and well-illustrated book belongs on the shelves of all public and school libraries. It’s a wonderful way to learn history.
-School Library Journal, starred review
Review
Praise for The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence: "This well-researched, readable, and well-illustrated book belongs on the shelves of all public and school libraries. Its a wonderful way to learn history."—School Library Journal, starred review
"History buffs or not, all readers will come away better informed about this honored 2'×21/2' sheet of parchment."—Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Everyone knows that John Hancock was one of the first signers of the Declaration of Independence. But not many know that he signed his name so large to show how mad he was about how the colonists had been treated. This witty book highlights little-known facts about this historical figure.
Synopsis
Before Teddy Roosevelt became famous as a statesman, naturalist, colonel in the Spanish-American War, and twenty-sixth president of the United States, he was a young boy called Teedie who had wonderful adventures with his brother and sister and even started a museum in his attic. But he also struggled with terrible asthma. Overcoming his illness was the major battle of his young life . . . and his determination to make himself strong and healthy set the course for his amazing accomplishments to come.
First in a planned series of picture storybooks about "turning points" in the lives of the young Presidents, this book is written by the in-comparable author of So You Want to Be President? and whimsically illustrated by Matthew Faulkner.
Synopsis
George Washington wanted to be a Virginia gentleman, like his brother Lawrence . . . until he got the chance to go on a wilderness trip as a surveyor's assistant. It was a rough-and even dangerous-journey. At times George got discouraged, but his grit and determination kept him going. His early trek into the American frontier was a turning point for George, and he proved he was ready for any challenge . . . from being a general in the Revolutionary War to becoming the first president of the United States!
Second in Judith St. George's new Turning Point series about major moments in the young lives of American presidents, this volume features vibrant illustrations by Daniel Powers.
Synopsis
A long time ago some smart guys wrote the Preamble to the Constitution. You have probably read it before, but do you know what it means? And did it ever make you laugh? Now it will! Perfect for inspiring discussion in classrooms and around kitchen tables, this fun-filled and cheerfully illustrated look at the Preamble provides an accessible introduction to America's founding ideals for citizens of
all ages.
Includes a glossary of terms and a foreword by the artist.
Synopsis
Zarafa is a beautiful and gentle giraffe . . . so wonderful, in fact, that the ruler of Egypt offers her as a gift to the king of France! But how to get her there? Why, she sails up the Nile by felucca, crosses the sea by brigantine, and, yes,
walks the last five hundred miles to Paris. People love it. And they love her, meeting and greeting her along the way, cheering her on. Afterward, the grateful French king places Zarafa in his own royal garden, where all of Paris comes to visit and love her. Judith St. George (
So You Want to Be President?) brings this amazing?but true?journey to life with help from the whimsical art of Britt Spencer.
Synopsis
In curiously parallel lives, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were both orphaned at an early age. Both were brilliant students who attended college? one at Princeton, the other at Columbia?and studied law. Both were young staff officers under General George Washington, and both became war heroes. Politics beckoned them, and each served in the newly formed government of the fledgling nation. Why, then, did these two face each other at dawn in a duel that ended with death for one and opprobrium for the other?
Judith St. George?s lively biography, told in alternating chapters, brings to life two complex men who played major roles in the formation of the United States.
Synopsis
Abraham Lincoln grew up poor and without schooling in a Kentucky wilderness and lost his mother before he was ten. It was sparkplug Sally Bush Johnston who married his father, brought a library of books to their log cabin home, and believed in Abe from the beginning. She was an inspiring turning point for young Abe, who went on to become America?s sixteenth and most popular and respected president.
A spirited introduction to the great American for young readers and a glimpse of how any human can rise to surprising heights.
Synopsis
St. George and Small, the Caldecott Medal-winning team who created So You Want to Be President?, are back with another spirited and witty look at history-this time focusing on the inventors and inventions who have given us lightbulbs, automobiles, and all the other things that keep the world humming.
So You Want to Be an Inventor? features some of the world's best-known inventors-Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Eli Whitney-as well as lesser-known geniuses like Georges de Mestral (inventor of Velcro), Wilhelm Roentgen (inventor of X rays), and Hedy Lamarr (inventor of a system that became the basis for satellite communication-who knew?). Whether you're a dreamer or a loner, a copycat or a daredevil, this book might just inspire readers to invent something that could change the world!
About the Author
Judith St. George lives in Connecticut.
David Small grew up in Detroit, studied Art and English at Wayne State University and completed his graduate studies in art at Yale. He went on to teach drawing and printmaking at the college level for fourteen years, during which time his first book Eulalie and The Hopping Head was published. David no longer teaches but has continued illustrating.
David has illustrated twenty-seven picture books, and has also provided the text for six of them. His Imogene’s Antlers has been featured for fifteen years on PBS’ “Reading Rainbow.” Fenwicks Suit presently is in production by Fox 2000 Four of David’s bestselling picture books were written by his wife, Sarah Stewart. Their book The Gardener was the recipient of 17 awards including the Christopher Medal and the 1998 Caldecott Honor Award.
David’s books have been translated into six languages. He also has worked years as a freelance editorial artist, with his drawings appearing regularly in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. His reviews of picture books appear frequently in The New York Times Book Review.
Of his beginnings as an artist David has this to say: “Detroit is not where I would have lived given the choice as a child. Then, I would much rather have lived in Candy Land. But the fact is Detroit—a harsh, industrial—made art and music all the more sweet in my young life, more urgent and more of a necessity. Seen in that light, Detroit was the perfect place for me to grow up.”
David Small and Sarah Stewart make their home in Michigan in an 1833 Greek Revival house on ten acres of land along the banks of the St. Joseph River. Their house is on the National Register of Historic Places, and their property marks the northern boundary of the Great Tallgrass Prairie.