Horn Book (Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

What looks like homespun beige cloth is the background for historically accurate paintings illustrating Longfellow's famous narrative poem. Each boxed image faces a page of verse featuring a smaller visual vignette. Despite the pressing matter at hand, the somber tones and the quiet, almost still-life depiction of the scenes leave the reader as observer, not participant, in this handsome new version of a classic.

Kirkus Reviews (Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

<p>They don't write 'em like this any more, which is too bad, as Longfellow gave stirring life to a small part of the Revolutionary War and made a silversmith a legend in a poem that has proven extremely popular to illustrators. As historian Jayne Triber's note indicates, Revere was a spy as well as a silversmith and the ride was carefully planned, so Longfellow's verse is not historically accurate. But it is still a terrific read-aloud, as the rhythm and rhyme propel the story, printed here on textured, linen-like paper opposite Vachula's oil paintings. Her acknowledgements indicate that she did copious historical research to get the details of clothing, landscape, and architecture correct. Her images match the drama of the poem: the British ship Somerset, "A phantom ship, with each mast and spar / Across the moon like a prison bar," is seen over the shoulder of the rower "with muffled oar." Later, Revere is framed in a window through which the reader is gazing, giving word to a woman and her child in the house opposite. Or "his friend" is lurking in a doorway listening to the enemy through an open window. For all the drama, the illustrations are static, like tableaux. The colors are deep and rich, with the kind of muffled hues that give a satisfying historical cast to the pictures. A fine version, although it is not so powerful or engaging as Charles Santore's (below) or the Caldecott Honora"winning marvel by Christopher Bing (2001). (historical note) (Picture book/poetry. 7-12)</p>

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Longfellow's well-known poem """"never appeared to better advantage,"""" said PW, noting that """"Rand has created a rich rendition of the Revolutionary landscape."""" A Spanish-language reprint will be issued simultaneously ($4.99 -05576-0). Ages 5-up. (Mar.)

School Library Journal (Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Gr 2-5-Another version of Longfellow's classic poem is brought to light. Vachula has chosen a burlaplike background for her historically accurate oil paintings, giving not only an antique but also a homey feel to her work. Each spread features 5 to 16 lines from the poem and a small picture opposite a full painting. For instance, the "spark/Struck out by a steed" is accompanied by a close-up of a powder horn, while another page that tells of the patriot who would be "Pierced by a British musket-ball" shows the fallen soldier being attended by a clergyman. Each thumbnail sketch draws attention to specific ideas that might otherwise be lost in the larger illustration. Although Longfellow's poem is not known for its total historical accuracy, Vachula's paintings are so carefully rendered that anyone familiar with the area will recognize Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, and the bridge at Lexington and Concord. Done primarily in somber blues, greens, and gray tones, the artwork conveys the seriousness of the political situation and makes the touches of red from the grenadiers' uniforms all the more startling. Much more traditional than Jeffrey Thompson's highly stylized art in The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (National Geographic, 2000) and even more realistic than the engravings and paintings by Christopher Bing (Handprint, 2001), this edition will be welcomed by purists who prefer an almost photographic look at Revere's historic ride.-Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.