Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation

I enjoyed reading this book for two reasons. One was because the illustrations were attractive and silly. Jef Czekaj did a great job telling the story of how our nation came to be by illustrating thirteen diverse students, which represented the thirteen colonies. Each student had distinct characteristics, shapes and sizes. The children’s bodies were the shapes of the state they each represented, which I found both clever and humorous.
The second reason I enjoyed this book was because the text was incredibly informative without being too content-heavy. Children can learn a lot from this text without feeling overwhelmed or stressed out. Jacqueline Jules presents the information in a way that children can understand and identify with show more without coming off as textbook-style. By reading this text, children can learn at their own level and enjoy the material being taught without feeling burnt out or bored. When paired with the silly illustrations and entertaining dialogue between the “colonies”, the informative text became interesting and more realistic. Often when learning about history, students can become disengaged and disconnected. This text helps bridge that gap by making history fun and silly.
Overall, I found this book incredibly useful and purposeful. I had fun reading this book because of its creative and lighthearted nature. Both Jules and Czekaj did a wonderful job at creating a children’s book that was not only informative, but enjoyable as well. I loved the idea of having the students represent the colonies because it created comprehensible input for the target audience. The takeaway from this story was that everyone needs to work together and learn how to compromise or else things will fall apart. I think this is a great lesson for young children and I believe this is a great story for elementary school students to learn from. show less

This is a great book about how the 13 colonies became one nation, The United States of America. I really like how this book is presented. When reading, you'll notice it is like a theatre production of the story. There is regular text which acts as the narrator and there is also speech bubbles coming from the characters on the page. This is a fun and informative book for children. My students enjoyed learning about this because of the way the book was set up. It kept their interests better.

This book gives the background on how the 13 states came together to form a nation in a manner meant to engage younger readers. The book is creative in the way it imparts information; the information is presented as a play being performed on stage. It is very colorful and tries to reveal what questions and concerns people in the 13 states had about joining together as one nation. I liked the addition of the comments below the text explaining what was happening at that time in history. However, some pages are too "busy' for me although I would let students read the book to get their opinions. There is an afterward and author's notes section at the end if you want to read more about the information presented on the pages. I think it would show more be a useful book for students to read independently or as a quick read aloud to the class. show less

Fun, fun fun. Sure we have heard of the Articles of Confederation and the Virginia Compromise and the New Jersey Plan, but who really remembers much about them? This book could help lots of kids (and adults, on occasion) better understand how our system of government came about.After the war for independence, there really wasn’t much of a United States of America. There were just thirteen separate states. Problems. One big problem was money. Each state printed its own. States wouldn’t accept the money of other states. And who would fight for these thirteen separate states? Finally, fifty-five men came together from twelve states (no Rhode Island) to figure things out and the result was the amazing Constitution of the United States. show more It still works today because of the brilliance and cooperation of those who met together to create this document.Cold hard facts are the text of this book, but it is the fun illustrations that really explain and expound upon the the subject. It is the illustrations that kept me reading along. Very kid friendly. And for a subject that can be way over the heads of many ten year olds.An afterword explains the process of the Constitution in detail as does a notes section that expands upon the most complicated parts of the book in a clever question-answer format. The book also includes a web link to the Constitution with an invitation to read the document for oneself and a lengthy bibliography.Here’s a sample:‘(text) This wasn’t an easy idea to accept, especially for the small states like New Jersey and Delaware, who were afraid the big states would outvote them in Congress.(from the cartoon balloons) Pennsylvania: “Sure, the number of delegates will be based on population. What’s wrong with that?”Delaware: “Everything! If you have more delegates, you’ll have more votes than I do.”North Carolina: “But you’re not even half my size. Why should you have the same number of votes?”’ show less

This was one of my favorite books because the author does a fantastic job getting the information across to the readers. First, I love that the author included maps throughout the book to show the colonies, which gives the readers a visual idea. of where they are located. I also love that the characters are not only cartoons and have speech bubbles, but that they represent a state. This gives the readers a fun way to remember and connect the events, since it takes the readers through many events that led us to our Constitution.

I like that in this book the author not only summarizes how the 13 states became united but also provides dates, facts, and locations of meetings. Including all of these things can be hard but the author writes the book in a way that the book is still engaging. I also like that the story wrote this book in the point of view that students were putting on a play of the events of how the United States come together. The last reason why I like this book is that it is a book about students putting on a play which will help students connect to the book. The big idea of this book is to let students know how the government system we have today came together.

This entertaining picture book gives a great overview of the creation of the American Constitution. In clear, concise text Jacqueline Jules explains why we needed a central government and how the thirteen states went about creating one. Jef Czekaj's illustrations make it fun as the information is presented through kids dressed as states and forefathers doing a school play. Highly recommended.

Full review on my blog: http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/04/book-review-unite-or-die.html