Reviews
The Thrifty Guide to the American Revolution: A Handbook for Time Travelers by Jonathan W. Stokes
mehsi's review
5.0
My fourth Thrifty Guide and this time we are heading into the American Revolution. How it started and how it all ended.
I was very happily surprised when I found out about this book. The other books have been translated to Dutch and are found in stores and libraries here and so I thought there weren’t any others. So imagine my delight to find another book in the series. I guess I can understand why this may not have been translated and the others have. The others are subjects that are much more popular with the kids here, more known as well, I don’t think a lot of kids here would care about the American Revolution.
In this book we learn all about the American Revolution, and while I did have fun reading it… it was also a tad boring at times. Whereas I greatly enjoyed the other three books and gave them 5 stars (and would even rate them higher), this one is more a 3, maybe 3.5. I mostly picked this up because it was Thrifty Guide. But whereas the other books dive into so many paths concerning their topic, this was just battles, battles, famous dudes (and some ladies), battles, battles. I get that it is about the Revolution, but I would have liked maybe a bit more on the whole what people do in their daily life, jobs, how cities grew, slavery/the slaves who freed themselves. Just like how the other books showed battles but also other important topics.
But there were fun parts about this book, mostly the stuff made to look like a review for a place or some hilarious bits on how you could change history a bit by adding x or y. Or the parts about the time travel. Though I also did like reading about some of the famous guys (and girls) in the AR. And sure, some of the battles were pretty great, especially seeing how the American army went from tiny and very ill equipped and no battle experience to more and more skilled and better at tactics and with more weapons.
Maybe this book is more interesting to an American or someone who is into the subject or loves reading about battles, but for me it just wasn’t that interesting. Sadly.
This one is going on the sell/donate stack (should really get to setting up something for that). I do hope that Jonathan W. Stokes makes more books in the Thrifty Guide series, I would love a book about Egypt.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
I was very happily surprised when I found out about this book. The other books have been translated to Dutch and are found in stores and libraries here and so I thought there weren’t any others. So imagine my delight to find another book in the series. I guess I can understand why this may not have been translated and the others have. The others are subjects that are much more popular with the kids here, more known as well, I don’t think a lot of kids here would care about the American Revolution.
In this book we learn all about the American Revolution, and while I did have fun reading it… it was also a tad boring at times. Whereas I greatly enjoyed the other three books and gave them 5 stars (and would even rate them higher), this one is more a 3, maybe 3.5. I mostly picked this up because it was Thrifty Guide. But whereas the other books dive into so many paths concerning their topic, this was just battles, battles, famous dudes (and some ladies), battles, battles. I get that it is about the Revolution, but I would have liked maybe a bit more on the whole what people do in their daily life, jobs, how cities grew, slavery/the slaves who freed themselves. Just like how the other books showed battles but also other important topics.
But there were fun parts about this book, mostly the stuff made to look like a review for a place or some hilarious bits on how you could change history a bit by adding x or y. Or the parts about the time travel. Though I also did like reading about some of the famous guys (and girls) in the AR. And sure, some of the battles were pretty great, especially seeing how the American army went from tiny and very ill equipped and no battle experience to more and more skilled and better at tactics and with more weapons.
Maybe this book is more interesting to an American or someone who is into the subject or loves reading about battles, but for me it just wasn’t that interesting. Sadly.
This one is going on the sell/donate stack (should really get to setting up something for that). I do hope that Jonathan W. Stokes makes more books in the Thrifty Guide series, I would love a book about Egypt.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
taun's review against another edition
3.0
An overview of the major happenings of the American Revolution. The book takes a humorous, to the point of not-so-funny-anymore, look at the people, places, and dates of this vastly important part of American history.
Okay for supplement reading, not enough for a comprehensive look at the war. Has some fun trivia, tho I personally didn’t enjoy the notes, etc about Time Corp that had nothing to do with the subject.
Three stars is probably generous, I’d likely rate it more towards 2.5.
Okay for supplement reading, not enough for a comprehensive look at the war. Has some fun trivia, tho I personally didn’t enjoy the notes, etc about Time Corp that had nothing to do with the subject.
Three stars is probably generous, I’d likely rate it more towards 2.5.
aconant's review against another edition
3.0
Here are my notes while I read -
A very fun concept. Perfect for 5th graders studying the revolution. I’m enjoying the bits of history rolled up in humor wit and a wee bit of cheek.
It can be a bit choppy and kids with little background knowledge might be less engaged. Kind of reminds me of lonely planet guide book.
Kids aren’t going to be able to fly through this as they normally do. With all the information they will be forced to slow and make connections to background knowledge or store the information for future learning.
I love history so this is super fun for me. I’m not sure a wide range of students will have the stamina for it. Perhaps though it would make a very fun read aloud while students are studying the revolution. It’s a very different kid friendly approach and I could see them getting excited over it and conversations opening up and even some joking around. Probably best reception would come from group reading if this.
If you have history fans I’m sure they will get a kick out if this but I’m not sure it’s meant to play to a wide general audience. A fun niche book that teachers could read as a read aloud or even read sections that pertain to the events students are studying.
A very fun concept. Perfect for 5th graders studying the revolution. I’m enjoying the bits of history rolled up in humor wit and a wee bit of cheek.
It can be a bit choppy and kids with little background knowledge might be less engaged. Kind of reminds me of lonely planet guide book.
Kids aren’t going to be able to fly through this as they normally do. With all the information they will be forced to slow and make connections to background knowledge or store the information for future learning.
I love history so this is super fun for me. I’m not sure a wide range of students will have the stamina for it. Perhaps though it would make a very fun read aloud while students are studying the revolution. It’s a very different kid friendly approach and I could see them getting excited over it and conversations opening up and even some joking around. Probably best reception would come from group reading if this.
If you have history fans I’m sure they will get a kick out if this but I’m not sure it’s meant to play to a wide general audience. A fun niche book that teachers could read as a read aloud or even read sections that pertain to the events students are studying.
david_l's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
5.0
This is an enlightening nonfiction book wrapped in a fun and entertaining premise. It doesn’t shy away from tough topics like slavery, but doesn’t dwell on anything too long. I appreciated the call outs of “People to have lunch with”, which included founding fathers, women important to the war, and noted black/African/African American men who fought in the war.
imzadirose's review against another edition
Meh. Good for kids who want to know about the American Revolution with some humor mixed in. Not good for adults who usually enjoy reading MG books. Just dull, though it made me laugh once. DNF @ 23%.
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