ALA Booklist (Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

The Maestros pick up the thread after Struggle for a Continent: The French and Indian Wars, 1689-1763 (2000) and continue their American Story series with a colorfully illustrated book that spotlights the Revolutionary War period. History provides a fine plot and cast of characters for this topic, and the Maestros make the most of them, weaving a dramatic tale of ideals and hardship, heroism and betrayal, and illustrating events with a series of detailed, dramatic, and informative pictures and a number of excellent maps. (In one case, however, the art and caption are confusing, making it seem as if Patrick Henry delivered his Give me liberty speech to the colonial legislature at the Virginia capitol building, rather than of the St. John's church.) The book ends with a year-by-year table of significant events; an annotated list of Unsung Heroes of the American Revolution; a paragraph each on blacks, women, and Native Americans during the Revolution; and a page gathering a miscellany of added facts, but no source notes or bibliography. Colorful and accessible.

Horn Book (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

Taback adapts thirteen well-known Eastern European tales and laces them with Yiddish words and their meanings to give the tales a flavor even a shlemiel could appreciate. The brightly colored pages are filled with gently caricatured characters; occasional collaged pieces further enliven the pages. Each tale concludes with a succinct, humorous saying that sums up its essence.

Kirkus Reviews

The Maestros continue their "American Story" series with a lucid, opinionated account of the American Revolution, from the end of the French and Indian Wars to George Washington's resignation as Commander-in-Chief. Though the small figures in Guilio's illustrations give the events he depicts a certain distance, Betsy's narrative more than compensates, with lines like "Throughout the fall and winter, Greene and Cornwallis chased each other's tails," and pointed bashing of a Continental Congress that repeatedly dragged its feet when it came to keeping its army supplied. Standing out from similar histories for its inclusion of less familiar figures—William Dawes, who rode with Paul Revere; John Glover, whose boats saved Washington's bacon during the Battle of Long Island; banker Haym Salomon, and others—along with appended discussions of the contributions of blacks, women and Native Americans to the struggle, this merits a place alongside Benson Bobrick's more dramatically illustrated Fight For Freedom: The American Revolutionary War (2004). (Nonfiction. 8-10)

School Library Journal (Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2005)

Gr 2-6 Picking up after the end of the French and Indian Wars, where Struggle for a Continent (HarperCollins, 2000) left off, the Maestros continue with the 20 years leading up to, and fighting, the American Revolution. A simple narrative, largely from the Colonists' perspective, touches on the major events, players, and ideas of the times, beginning with the Stamp Act and ending with Yorktown and the subsequent peace treaty. Much of the text is taken up with military encounters and strategies; campaigns, generals, and soldiers are kept relatively straight, often with the help of numerous clear maps (though there's no initial delineation of the 13 colonies). Full-color ink, colored-pencil, and watercolor illustrationsfrom small portrait ovals to full-spread scenariosare also helpful; they grace the page in a pleasing, uncluttered way. Packing that much history into 64 pages means, of course, that some complexity, detail, and depth are lost. While some misconceptions are cleared upPaul Revere's non-solo ride, Bunker/Breed's Hillmore explanation could sometimes relieve a bit of confusion. No sources are cited. Nonetheless, this book serves as a good introductory overview. The visual appeal, straightforward narrative, and large format make it accessible to audiences not ready for Joy Hakim's From Colonies to Country (Oxford, 2002) or Benson Bobrick's Fight for Freedom (S & S, 2004). Rosalyn Schanzer's George vs. George (National Geographic, 2004) is a more engaging and explanatory social and political history of the time, but lacks the more complete military coverage found here. Nancy Palmer, The Little School, Bellevue, WA