Shh! We're Writing the Constitution

I'm not saying everyone should learn about the writing of the United States Constitution through this book. However, being the frustrated student in American history that I was as a kid (I could never memorize names, places, or dates), I found this a terrific book. I think it is especially relevant to the present because I see so many challenges to the Constitution that I feel it is important to learn as much about it as I can.

I didn't seek this book out. It found me! It came as a donation to my Little Free Library. As I was about to release it to children in my neighborhood, I was interested enough in the book title and the amusing cover art of patriots in their black and white garb (and some with wigs) that I thought I'd browse show more through its pages. That didn't happen. Instead, I sat down to read the whole book. I'm glad I did. The story of the statesmen who came together to write the Constitution was an educational read, but also quite a lot of fun with excellent and often funny pictures by Tomie dePaola (whose artwork I knew from the days when my own kids were small) and tidbits of interesting information to complement the main thrust of the story.

This book not only provided me the incentive to read the Constitution, it also provided a full copy of the Constitution itself for me to read. I read it out loud so that I could understand it more fully. I think this may have been the first time that I actually ever read the entire U.S. Constitution, and I am seventy years old now. It was about time! Thank you, Jean Fritz and Tomie dePaola. show less

Distinctive Jean Fritz narrative. Fun and informative. Tomie de Paola illustrated a lot of her books and was a good choice with this and others.

There are end notes and the whole text of the Constitution at the back of this 64 page children's book. Fascinating that the convention took so long to write so little.

As ever, Fritz regales us with some fascinating details. Some delegates checked out books from the Philadelphia library and did not return them at all, much less on time. In the middle of the convention, Washington got a chance to go fishing; the illustration of his brief vacation is in lighter, happier colors. At the beginning of the book which is the end of the war he looks terrible; dressed in black, bags and shadows under his show more eyes, grim. show less

I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. The big idea of the book is to inform readers about the process of creating the US constitution. I liked the book because it provided an interesting take on historical information. The book begins with providing a story-like sequence of events on how the constitution of the United States was made. Instead of simply stating facts, the book featured personal reactions and emotions of important characters/historical figures. This allows the reader to read the book more like a story rather than a historical document or text. For example, the one line of the book states “Patrick Henry took one look at the first words of the Constitution and saw red. ‘We the people!’ Since when had show more they become a single people?” This small snippet shows the reader that Patrick Henry was extremely hesitant of the idea of a US constitution. These details allow the reader to connect to the characters. I also enjoyed that the entire US constitution is included at the back of the book. This layout allows readers to not only learn about the history of the creation of the Constitution but be able to physically read the document afterwards. The book featured accurate historical information which is extremely important in an informational book! However, I did not like that the book did not have chapters. The book is fairly wordy, with a decent sized paragraph on each page and illustrations that would not necessarily help younger readers make much sense of the book. I feel like the book could have clustered key events into chapters, which would have made it easier to read instead of 50 straight pages. I wouldn’t call this a picture book because the pictures are not a focal point in the book, but it also isn’t a chapter book either. For this reason I also think the book would fit best for older students, particularly 5th or 6th graders. Overall I think the book does a good job of giving reliable information about the creation of the constitution but I would be cautious of using the book with younger students due to the format! show less

This factual gem that's written with Newbery Honor author Jean Fritz's humorous touch chronicles the hot summer of 1787 where fifty-five delegates from thirteen states huddled together in the strictest secrecy in Philadelphia to draw up the constitution of the United States!

As a future history teacher, I found this book to be great for an in-class read. This book really helps with presenting history in a great way.
I think if you have a child or class that is struggling with the subject of history this book would help them. It is quite cute and funny also. I think that it is informative to the reader without the reader getting too bored with the book. It brings history to life and you get to know the people who created the constitution. It makes these historical figures have depth and feels like they are reachable.

This factual gem that's written with Jean Fritz's humorous touch chronicles the hot summer of 1787 where fifty-five delegates from thirteen states huddled together in the strictest secrecy in Philadelphia to draw up the constitution of the United States!

This book does a great job of making the writing of the Constitution engaging and enjoyable to its audience. This book would be a great resource in a Social Studies classroom to better engage the students in a fun and easy to understand format. Overall I recommend this book for students in a Social Studies classroom to better a student's understanding of how the Constitution was written.