John, Paul, George & Ben

“Once there were four lads… John (Hancock), Paul (Revere), George (Washington), and Ben (Franklin). Oh yes, there was also Tom (Jefferson), but he was annoyingly independent and hardly ever around.” This picture book is simple fun, telling childhood stories of five of the famous Founding Fathers and some of the trouble they once found themselves in. With John as the bold lad, Paul the noisy lad, George the honest lad, Ben the clever lad, and Tom the independent lad, the slightly fabricated childhood tales conclude with excerpts of how these characteristics played a role in each man’s significant contributions to the country’s history. The story concludes with a “Taking Liberties” section, complete with true/false show more statements and explanations of details laced in the story, providing the perfect opportunities for teachers to address qualities of historical fiction. Lane Smith effectively showcases his laugh out loud sense of humor in both his text and illustrations demonstrated straight away with a note on the inside jacket, “For the pursuit of readers aged 5 to just plain aged.” show less

It's clever to try to mash-up the Beatles with the Founding Fathers, but the author limited it to too few visual and written references. He could have leaned into that theme a little more. Regardless, the rest of the book was a humorous and witty presentation of history, with a little True/False fact check at the end to explain where the author took liberties. Very nice.

In my opinion, this is an adorable book. One reason why I like this book is because of the characters. John, Paul, George, and Ben all had important contributions and roles in US history. Usually a topic like this is taught in later years of elementary school, but having this book for K-2nd grade allows the younger readers to have an awareness of what happened in the past.

I also enjoyed the illustrations that were used in this book. The characters were cartoon, but looked exactly like the actual people from history. They were miniaturized to look like children, but there is no confusion of who is who in the book. In addition, the book was very fun to look through because of the different face expressions and actions the characters show more did.

Although the stories are fiction, the reader can know that John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence, Paul Revere warned the town that the British were coming, and so on. The author's purpose is pretty clear in that he was trying to let children know US history in a whimsical way. show less

I first discovered Lane Smith way back when I worked in the MCLS Children's Consultants Office and had the enviable job of unpacking and checking in all the review copies that came in from publishing houses. The day I pulled out a copy of Eve Merriam's Halloween ABC was the day I fell hard for Lane Smith. And then The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs came out, and Stinky Cheese Man and I was unconditionally hooked.

I'm not sure whether it's the resemblance of his illustrations to the Fractured Fairy Tales of my Sunday Morning Cartoon Watching youth -- way back around 1969 or 1970, the only cartoons on TV on Sunday morning were Fractured Fairy Tales and Bullwinkle, which I really despised -- or the sublimely snarky prose that captivate me. show more I don't really care, just so long as Smith keeps turning out books like John, Paul, George & Ben.

Now, I wasn't sure about this one, mainly because I was just coming off Wise Guy, a picture book about Greek philosophy which really left me cold. I thought, what could Lane Smith have to say about the "wise guys" who founded our country that hasn't been said before, and say it in a funny way? Weh-eh-ellll. My worry was needless. Smith blends historical fact -- did you know Paul Revere was a bell ringer? -- with some really funny fiction. The piece about Revere selling extra-large underwear is hiliarious and will undoubtedly have storytime kids in stitches.

All the big players in the Sons of Liberty are here -- John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Tom Jefferson. I especially like Jefferson's profile, with it's Roman nose and strong chin...sooooo much like Hercules in FFT.

The writing and illustrations blend beautifully, making this one another Lane Smith must-have for the library, and for my own collection. show less

This book shows our Founding Fathers as sassy, mischievous boys, always on the brink of trouble. Readers will be keen to learn the boyhood antics of such cerebral, effective statesmen, as we don't often think of them as ever having been kids. The combination of delightfully wacky illustrations, witty comedic text and fantastically unique design work, including breaking the pages up in surprising ways will tickle young and old alike. A real winner!

I will look for every excuse to read this book with any young fry who will listen. Using humor and a casual tone, Lane Smith eradicates the "stuffiness factor" so often present when we learn about the founding fathers. Pure joy, laughs and learning galore. Thumbs and toes UP!

A silly portrayal of the founding fathers as children and how that relates to each man's achievements as an adult. The story has different sections on each man, but brings them all together at the end to connect them. There is also an excellent chart with what is true and what is false in the book and in history that is fun for kids and adults. Each of the founding fathers is developed as a child, a lot of the development is related to the illustrations. The setting is not well developed, but it is not necessary due to the organization of the story. This is a great book that would be excellent for an introduction to elementary school students to learn about the beginning of the United States.