Children studying the Revolutionary War will find What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? by Jean Fritz.
Fritz starts with information every child is curious about – Franklin’s childhood. Instead of boring readers with facts and figures, Fritz tells stories from Franklin’s life – of how he taught himself to swim different strokes, how he studied by candlelight, and how he invented something he called “Magic Squares.”
Ben Franklin was a man of great ideas, great action and great travel, and Fritz follows them all in her book, capturing Franklin’s forceful personality. What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? deserves a place in every child’s library, as do Fritz’s other books about early American history.
Her American History titles include:
- Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George?;
- And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?;
- Where Was Patrick Henry on the 29th of May?;
- Why Don’t You Get a Horse, Sam Adams?;
- Will You Sign Here, John Hancock?;
- George Washington’s Breakfast; and
- Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution.
Cultivating Readers 