I bought this book on a trip to Philadelphia last summer but never got around to reading it. I toured her tiny little house while on the trip and saw the recreated things she surrounded herself with. I tell you these because I am not a fan of informational books that do not directly relate to information I am actively seeking. I taught trade books as a 5th grade teacher and had to work very hard to make them interesting to students. The fact that I visited the home Betsy Ross made the reading experience a bit more personal.
As adolescent informational books go this one was pretty good. The print is large with adequate space between words. There are several illustrations that help with visualization. Many of the pictures are of Betsy Ross but I learned from reading the book that no photographs were ever taken of her so all pictures are based on written descriptions of what she looked like.
Another interesting feature of this book is that it does not just go into every last detail about how she made the flag but it also tells her about other aspects of her life. It begins by telling us why she is a historical figure and then begins telling of her life from birth.
One of the most interesting things I learned about Betsy was that her father made her take an apprenticeship in sewing so that if she were ever widowed she could take care of herself. Sadly her parents died many years later of Yellow Fever. I also did not know that she was married three times and widowed two times and basically raised two young daughters alone. What an inspiration.
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2 comments:
Wow! We have something in common. I visited Betsy Ross's home in Phil., PA last Spring Break (2006) and was instantly a fan. She was a remarkable woman who rose to the occasion, so to say, under tyranny. I was impressed with her father's forward think about her having a profession, so that if she was ever widowed, she would have some way to support herself. On that trip I purchased two books also (Phil. is just the best place for US history), about Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. I will be blogging on these and when I "blessed them" in front of my class and put them in my Buddy Reading center my students just jumped at the opportunity to read them. It is true, nonfiction is hard to get into, but I think that authors today are trying very hard to make it a more pleasurable and enjoyable experience to read this genre.
It's interesting to see how Ross's life unfolded to cause her to earn the fame of making the flag. I bet this would be a good resourse for a unit on Unites States Symbols for elementary students.
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