The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere - Hardcover

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1929766130 ISBN 13: 9781929766130

Publisher: Chronicle Books, 2001

Synopsis

In his magnificent interpretation of Henry Wadsworth Longfellows poem, Christopher Bing seamlessly weaves history and imagination into a rich portrait of an American hero. A meticulous researcher, Bing includes material that provides texture to history, maps that follow the British campaign to quell the rebellious citizenry, as well as the patriots ride into the Massachusetts night of April, 1775. Documents firmly affixed into the book, including the British generals orders to his troops and Reveres own deposition relating the events, give the reader not only a visual experience but a tactile one as well. Far more than a brilliantly presented history lesson, this book represents a tour de force of coherent artistic vision. In an extraordinary series of rich and moody engravings, from the mysteriously shimmering rigging of the British sloop, The Somerset, looming in a moonlit Boston harbor to the taut urgency of a man and his horse galloping at a combustible moment in the American experience, this book illuminates our countrys past unlike any other.

About this title

About the Author

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882), a professor of French and Spanish at Harvard University, was one of the first American academics to have a truly global interest in literature. He became convinced that America was in need of its own mythology, poeti

Christopher Bing, whose first book, "Casey at the Bat," was named a 2001 Caldecott Honor Book, lives with his wife and three children in Lexington, Massachusetts, in a house directly on the Freedom Trail, the route on which Paul Revere rod

Reviews

Gr 3 Up-Longfellow's most famous tale comes to life once again in Bing's masterfully detailed scratchboard paintings that, through their watercolor glazes, give the appearance of fine old engravings. The digitally produced, superimposed images of playing cards, Colonial money, and various other historical objects enhance the tactile sense of the meticulous renderings. Each half-page piece of text appears on a facsimile of parchment set in Founder's Caslon 30 font, the same typeface used in the first printing of the Declaration of Independence, and the accompanying illustrations, maps, and re-creations of documents clearly reinforce the poet's words. The scratchboards are rich in texture and their many shadows suggest the moods of conspiracy and secrecy that must have permeated those days prior to the battles of Lexington and Concord. One that is particularly poignant is that of Revere hurrying along on horseback while the shadows behind him create a blend of images of both the first and current Stars and Stripes. The illustrations of this beautifully bound rendition are more realistic than those by Jeffrey Thompson (National Geographic, 2000) and are geared to an older audience than those of Paul Galdone's classic version, Paul Revere's Ride (Crowell, 1963; o.p.). Both school and public libraries should add Bing's interpretation to their shelves-this is one patriotic poem that deserves to ride again.

Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Bing (Casey at the Bat) once again brings his love of history and attention to detail to bear in Longfellow's classic poem. Even before the famous opening lines ("Listen, my children, and you shall hear/ Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere"), he is busily setting the stage with period window dressing, including faux marbled endpapers cluttered with what looks like original documents (letters that open with an authentic-looking wax seal, newspaper accounts, etc.) plus a variety of found objects, from antique spectacles to a quill pen, seamlessly integrated with the aid of 21st-century technology. He presents the text itself on pages that appear yellowed with age. Pen-and-ink drawings on scratchboard, resembling period engravings, are washed with color cool midnight blues warmed by the glow of candlelight and brightened by the silvery light of the moon. Bing employs the poem's inherent drama. The stanza beginning "Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street,/ Wanders and watches, with eager ears," for instance, finds the lamplighter flattened against the corner of a house as he spies on the British grenadiers. If a few of the spreads are difficult to distinguish (e.g., "The shadowy something far away,/ Where the river widens to meet the bay" that triggers the lamplighter's signal cannot be deciphered, for instance, and it is hard to tell that there's a "second lamp in the belfry"), aspiring historians will overlook them in favor of the cornucopia of relevant facts incorporated into the endpapers including Revere's original deposition to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. For more sophisticated youngsters, Bing's impressive volume helps tell the tale of what happened that April night in 1775. Ages 7-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

*Starred Review* Ages 7-9. Bing, whose illustrated edition of Thayer's Casey at the Bat was a 2001 Caldecott Honor Book, turns another famous American poem into an equally handsome volume. Two double-page spreads are devoted to maps: one of the British "Secret Expedition to Concord"; the second showing the routes of Paul Revere and the other riders. Each section of the poem appears on what looks like the yellowed pages of an old book; a long, horizontal panel in each spread carries the main illustration. The scratchboard line work, reminiscent of engravings, is tinted with watercolors. Deep blues predominate in the well-drawn and beautifully lit night scenes, which reflect the atmosphere as well as the sense of the verse. The digital enhancement of the spreads, featuring small, scanned pictures and artifacts, adds three-dimensional elements such as coins, feathers, and playing cards to some of the scenes, but Bing uses this device with restraint. Amid the facsimile documents, folded and affixed to the endpapers, are maps, notes on Revere's ride, the illustrator's lengthy acknowledgements, the dedication, and the welcome notes on the artwork. The poem and illustrations at the heart of it all seem a little encumbered, but children will choose the parts that intrigue them, and so will their parents and teachers. A remarkable visual interpretation of Longfellow's classic poem. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Chronicle Books
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1929766130
• ISBN 13: 9781929766130
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Bing Christopher
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40