The books:
Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims
Rush Revere and the First Patriots
Rush Revere and the American Revolution
Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner
Rush Revere and the Presidency
He literally had his nose in these books!
He read all five books on his own, and insisted I read them to his siblings. According to him, I have to read them to Eliana (10) and Bo (6). "They are that good," he says.
- Rush Revere who is the substitute history teacher who takes the class back into the past to have plenty of adventures and mishaps as they learn about American History
- Liberty who is a talking horse who can turn himself invisible, go back in time, and eat truckloads of food
- Tommy, Freedom, Elizabeth, and Cam who are the kids in the class who travel back in time with Rush and Liberty.
- Tommy is the star quarterback, but he is really smart.
- Elizabeth has a crush on Tommy. She's a dangerous diva - temperamental and difficult to please. She's dangerous because she tried to change history. She tried to warn King George about the Boston Tea Party, so he could put a stop to it. She blackmails Rush Revere, and she's kind of snotty. She throws insults at Freedom and Cam about being not cool or in style.
- Freedom is part Native American, so she can talk to Liberty and other animals with her mind.
- Cam is a born leader. He is the school president and defeats a bully. His father fights in Afghanistan, so he is away from home a lot, and that is hard on Cam.
In Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, Rush and his horse, Liberty, sail on the Mayflower, visit the pilgrims, and celebrate the first Thanksgiving. We meet William Bradford, Miles Standish, Squanto, Somoset, Massasoit, and other famous Americans.
The books have plenty of full color images, graphics, and illustrations on glossy, sturdy pages.
The actual pictures are beautiful and the illustrations are detailed and well done.
In Rush Revere and the First Patriots, Rush, Liberty, Tommy, Cam, and Freedom travel to meet the first patriots such as: Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Ben Franklin, and Alexander Hamilton. We also meet the notorious King George.
In Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner, we meet Francis Scott Key during the night he penned his famous song. We visit the White House (in the past and present) and meet James Madison and his wife Dolly Madison, who saved George Washington's portrait when the White House burned down in 1814.
In Rush Revere and the Presidency Cam runs for student body president, so they travel to learn about the first three presidents: George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. We also meet the First Lady, Martha Washington and Mrs. President, Abigail Adams.
His favorite character was Liberty because "he is funny and always hungry."
His favorite scene from all the books is when Liberty landed in a bucket of pickles, which was great because he loves pickles! However, they make him gassy, so when the guards came, they thought something foul had spilled, haha.
When asked which book was his favorite, he said, "They were all good, but the first one and the last two were the most interesting and probably my favorites because they were filled with lots of details and interesting facts."
He would classify these books as humorous historical fiction.
Malachi recommends these for ages 10 and up for independent reading and ages 6 and up if being read to. They are entertaining and would appeal to any patriotic kid.
When I asked him what he learned, he replied:
"That finding a musket ball on a fish is good luck."
Free Study Guide
The Homeschool Depot offers complete study guides with chapter summaries, short answer questions, activity pages, and even quizzes for each book!
I did not find these amazing resources until the end of the review period, but I would have loved to have had them to discuss each book as my son read them, especially since I did not read them myself. The information offered is a treasure trove and would make for a great homeschool unit study to really bring the books and American history to life!
Please don't take only my word for it. I have not read these books. All information provided in this review came from my son, Malachi, and the books themselves. I know some of my Crew mates did read them, so be sure to check out their reviews by clicking below.
Thank you for this review! I was given a copy of one of these books and my daughter read it and loved it! We are studying American History this coming school year and these would be a great addition to our book list for the year!
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle,
ReplyDeleteI know I'm chiming in late on this one... but we have now read all these books to the children out loud, 11 and 9, and they loved them!!!! I enjoyed them myself too. I would highly recommend them to anyone. My son even read the first two over again to himself he liked them so much. Great Books! And my kids liked Liberty as their favorite character too! ;-)
Carissa xo
Yay! That makes me so happy to hear. Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete