Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book

Hot Search

The Revolutionary John Adams

cheryl harness

... Show More
John Adams comes to vivid life for young readers in this addition to Harness's acclaimed presidential picture-biographies. Dynamic artwork and lively narrative create a warm, personable portrait of the stubborn man from Braintree, Massachusetts, whose passion for liberty spurred him on to extraordinary roles as a Founding Father, first Vice President, and second President of the United States. Through Adams's eyes, kids witness the tension-enflamed streets of Boston, the bickering Continental Congress, the complexities of waging the War for Independence, and the challenges of governing a new nation. Vivid quotes from both John and Abigail Adams provide great primary source material for school reports, and three illustrated maps show readers where key events took place.


"How wonderful now to see his story told for children in such an appealing fashion. Cheryl Harness's illustrations and text are first rate, appropriately full of life and understanding." —David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of John Adams

National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,2003

This edition

Format
48 pages, Paperback
Published
January 10, 2006 by National Geographic Kids
ISBN
9780792254911
ASIN
0792254910
Language
English

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for cheryl harness

cheryl harness

... Show More

Readers also enjoyed

Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 30 votes)
5 stars
8(27%)
4 stars
14(47%)
3 stars
8(27%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
30 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Yumever
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
... Show More
John Adams slips away in the history pages, with the focus mostly on Washington and Jefferson. This is a well-researched and illustrated book, great as an intro to Adams for adults and for kids learning U.S. history.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Lord_Lucas
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
... Show More
Beautifully written and illustrated, this was a great introduction to the revolutionary war hero and 2nd president of the United States, John Adams. I really loved Harness' passion for her subject. You could tell that this was an author who knew her topic well, and was rather fond of the old hot-head. It made the reading experience that much more enjoyable and I really had a great time.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
yoobrojo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
... Show More
The book is well done with nice timelines and lots of detail. I bought it for my fifth grade students who were studying American history. However, it might have been better suited for 8th grade US history students interested in learning more about Adams. My 5th graders loved The Liberty Tree by Lucille Penner for facts along with funny true stories about the The American Revolution.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Tsuna-Ryu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
... Show More
Short but meaty kids' biography of John Adams, chock full of his very full life. Each page could be poured over for ten minutes because of the great pictures and quotes from Adams' letters at the bottom of the page. It included some of the best Adams stories, including my favorite---the night he had to share a bed with Ben Franklin.

Docked one star because I got tired of constantly reading full dates, which don't particularly mean much to kids and made the narrative flow kind of choppy.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Okashi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
... Show More
This is definitely my favorite cover picture of all the ones Harness has drawn. I would love to own a print of this. The composition and colors are stunning! I met Harness shortly after she wrote The Amazing, Impossible Erie Canal?, which was the first of her history books. She found her niche with that genre, and has come a long way since then.
I'm particularly fond of books about John Adams because of the wonderful relationship he had with his wife Abigail, which Harness brings out nicely. I'm collecting all her books!
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
-ANIME-OVERLORD
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
... Show More
Grade: 5-6
Genre: Nonfiction
Awards:
Use: I would use this in my classroom to work on sequencing with students. We will create timelines as we read the story of John Adams. We will label it with important accomplishments and events that happened throughout John Adams' life. Finally, the students will draw pictures depicting scenes of what they feel is the most important events in his life.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
KristinDtf
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
... Show More
It's hard to find picture book biographies of John Adams so I'm really happy this is a good one. It is visually beautiful and a fairly comprehensive overview of Adams' life (and key events of American Revolution and the USA's founding, as well) while managing to capture some of his personality and spirit, as well. I appreciate the inclusion of direct quotes. It's not perfect, but it's hard to cover this much information in a picture book and still create some sort of emotional connection so I appreciate the effort. This would be most suitable for the older picture book crowd and both my nine-year-old and seven-year-old were engrossed.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
graveyardgothic
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 16,2025
... Show More
A National Geographic publication, written and illustrated by Harness. Beautiful layout full of detailed illustrations, quotes, and maps which greatly add to the story. Very interesting.

The Note from the Author sets the stage, "...New Englander eternally bookended and overshadowed by tall, glamorous Virginians."

The events leading up to the Revolutionary War are included, such as the 176t Stamp Act. "Bostonians met under a century-old elm tree to protest the Stamp Act. They hanged effigies of the King's ministers and tax collectors in its branches. Soon, almost every American town and village had its own 'Liberty Tree'." It's interesting to think on the 250-year-old protests vs. those of today.

In a 1774 letter to his wife Abigail, John illustrates how little has changed: "The Business of the Congress is tedious, beyond Expression. This Assembly is like no other that ever existed...every Man upon every Question must shew his oratory, his Criticism and his Political Abilities. The Consequence of this is, that Business is drawn and spun out to an immeasurable Length."

blunderbuss - a firearm with a short, large caliber barrel which is flared at the muzzle

"The 13 very different Colonies were coming to see themselves as one America."

Abigail wrote to John in 1776, "In the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies..."

John's 1776 words give hope for democracy even now, "When...had three millions of people full power and a fair opportunity to form and establish the wisest and happiest government that human wisdom can contrive?" Sounds exciting.

When he was elected this first vice president, his perspective then was: "John was determined to serve in 'the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived' with dignity."

As President, John and his family were the first to move from Philadelphia to the "Federal City" of Washington, D.C.'s White House on November 1, 1800. "Abigail, who didn't want citizens gawking at the First Family's linen drying in the yard, would have laughed to know that her East Room clothesline would become a White House legend." John wrote, "...May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this Roof."

Both John and Thomas Jefferson, who had become great correspondents in their later years, passed away within hours of each other on July 4, 1826.
0 0 Reply
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.