John, Paul, George & Ben: Lane Smith

 

John, Paul, George & Ben 

Author/Illustrator: Lane Smith
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication Year: 2006
Brief Summary: A tongue-in-cheek look into the idiosyncrasies of the 5 little boys who were to become America’s Founding Fathers.

Awards, Honors and Prizes:

• Books of the Year, 2006 Winner 4 to 8 Years United States
• California Young Reader Medal, 2011 Winner Picture Book for Older Readers California
• Connecticut Book Awards, 2007 Winner Children’s Author United States
• Magnolia Award, 2010 Third Place Mississippi
• National Parenting Publications Award, 2006 Gold Book Books for the Whole Family United States
• New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year, 2006 Winner United States
• Quill Awards, 2006 Nominee Children’s Illustrated Book United States
• Society of School Librarians International Book Awards, 2006 Honor Book Social Studies-Grades K-6 United States
• Virginia Readers’ Choice Award, 2008 Winner Elementary Virginia
• Book Sense Children’s Picks, Summer 2006 ; American Booksellers Association
• Bulletin Blue Ribbons, 2006 ; Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
• Capitol Choices, 2007 ; The Capitol Choices Committee
• Children’s Catalog, Nineteenth Edition, Supplement, 2007 ; H.W. Wilson
• Choices, 2007 ; Cooperative Children’s Book Center
• Horn Book Fanfare, 2006 ; Horn Book
• New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, 2006 ; New York Public Library
• Notable Children’s Books, 2006 ; New York Times
• Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books, 2006 ; Publishers Weekly
• Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars, January 23, 2006 ; Cahners
• School Library Journal Best Books, 2006 ; Cahners
• School Library Journal Book Review Stars, March 2006 ; Cahners

 Ideas for using this book in classroom or library:

• Who are John, Paul, George, Ben, and Tom?  (John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson)  Discuss the term “Founding Fathers” and why we called them this.  Discuss the history surrounding the revolution.
• Declaration of Independence
• What are the boys’ individual traits?  How did their particular personality help during America’s road to independence, according to the book?
• Fact vs. fiction: look up some of the details in the book to see if they are true or false (some are provided in the back)

Brief notes on curriculum connections/content learning standards/Common Core/etc.

• Social studies: American Revolution, Declaration of Independence, Founding Fathers, first president, etc.
• Informational vs. narrative books/facts vs. fiction

Special features included (if applicable) — index; timeline; author’s notes; further reading; etc. Facts vs. fiction notes at the end of the book
Accessed at: Thrasher Elementary Library