Our Colonial Year - Hardcover

Harness, Cheryl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689834799 ISBN 13: 9780689834790

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2005

Synopsis

In Colonial America
there were no big grocery stores.
No microwaves to serve up
dinner piping hot.
And no dishwashers
for cleaning up.
So what chores did
colonial children do?
From quilting bees and
maple sugaring in winter,
to tilling the earth in spring,
to harvesting an autumn feast,
storyteller and historian
Cheryl Harness tells a
month-by-month story
of a brand-new nation and
the children in every city and farm
whose hard work
built America.
Readers of all ages will delight
in this vibrant folk art
chronicle of one indelible
nation way back when.

About this title

About the Author

Cheryl Harness lives in Independence, Missouri. As an author and illustrator, she is known for her engaging approach to history, seen in such books as Our Colonial Year; Mary Walker Wears the Pants; Young Abe Lincoln; George Washington; Spymaster; Three Young Pilgrims, Ghosts of the White House; and Remember the Ladies.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2–In short, free-verse compositions, Harness takes readers not just month by month through a year, but also through the 13 colonies (there is an additional spread for New Year's). Each of the simple but pithy poems is set in a different locale and focuses on children's chores and pastimes. Youngsters are depicted doing typical activities of the day, such as stitching samplers, carding wool, collecting maple sap, and playing marbles. The upcoming revolution is not mentioned until the last two lines (The colonial year is fast away./And tomorrow is an American day), but suggestions of what is to come are cleverly woven into the illustrations. For example, the entry for July features a woman in a red-and-white striped dress reading a newspaper with the headline Unite or Die standing next to a child wearing a white bonnet with blue stars. The historically accurate pen-and-ink and watercolor pictures have been carefully composed. They have a folk-art quality and feature calico prints on almost every surface, including fields, apple trees, and the flames in a fireplace, as well as the different colonies on the appended map. This book is a treat for the eye and an excellent introduction to this period in American history.–Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ
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Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0689834799
• ISBN 13: 9780689834790
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40