Old

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[MIch elle]

:D

[KIN]

Is your child a boy or a girl? My 4th grade ds just read it and really enjoyed it. Maybe it is one of those books that boys enjoy more than girls??

[elegantlion]

I would read it. I read it as a child and remembered very minor details from my reading. We used it as a read-aloud in 4th and it helped ds understand the people and times. It was one of my son's favorite books that year.

[JudoMom]

I would read it. I read it as a child and remembered very minor details from my reading. We used it as a read-aloud in 4th and it helped ds understand the people and times. It was one of my son's favorite books that year.

 

:iagree:

 

We read it aloud last year and all of my boys enjoyed it.

[PeterPan]

What in the world? Skip??? We listened to this on audio and it was GREAT. Maybe you were having a hormonal year or something in school? I mean seriously, it's a classic for a reason. It's even a Disney movie! Get the audio and listen to it. It pulled SO many things together for dd, definitely worth the money for the audio. Then watch the Disney movie and compare.

 

BTW, I got many of our read alouds for american history on audio, just because I knew I wouldn't get them read to her. Not that she can't read them for herself, but some things are more fun on audio. She didn't love Witch of Blackbird Pond, but at least with the audio she got through it.

[meet me in paris]

We did it as a read-aloud last year, and my girls really liked it. But, if you hate the book, that might come through in some way. ;)

 

Skip it if it gives you negative feelings.

[KarenNC]

Feel free to substitute or skip. I managed to get through school, get into a good college, graduate, have a career, marry and live a reasonably satisfying and productive adult life in general society without ever having either read the book or watched the movie until last year.:D I even had a reasonable understanding of the American Revolution!

 

For last year (3rd grade in SOTW 3) we watched the Disney movie of Johnny Tremain and for reading chose "Black Crows, White Cockades" by Christine Swager. It's about a girl, set in upstate South Carolina. I liked that it was set close by and had a girl as a protagonist. The author wrote it to, IIRC, help kids realize that the Rev War also happened south of Virginia.:001_smile: My daughter and I enjoyed it and I felt it balanced out all the other books related to New England and Virginia.

 

http://www.sandlapperpublishing.com/ChristineSwager.htm

 

Now Witch of Blackbird Pond was one of my absolute favorite books as a child.

Edited September 20, 2009 by KarenNC

[SilverMoon]

My ds liked it. ~shrug~ :)

 

He also liked Give Me Liberty, by L. M. Elliott. It's a fictional history story, placed in the Revolution period. The boy you follow is an indentured servant. It's about the same size as Johnny Tremain. The copyright on this one is 2006, so it hasn't had much time to get in the kewl lists.

[HollyDay]

My dds loved it. We did it as a read aloud and also watched the dvd. They really enjoyed it and both have asked to read it independently. We also liked Johnny Appleseed and Carry on Mr. Bowditch (post revolutionary war).

[Shelly in the Country]

I read this aloud to dd 2 years ago. I enjoyed it, though I never read it as a kid. I just asked dd for her opinion of the book and she says she liked it, too.

[Pam Wilhelm]

I never read it.......... I've managed to get through life without it. :D

[paula j]

My ds really liked it. I even had him do the Glencoe study guide to go along with it.

[Jen the RD]

Oh, don't skip it! It's a wonderful book! My dh read it to our family when dc's were 9 & 5. The first 3 chapters were a bit slow. In fact, we almost stopped reading it. By chapter 4, the pace of the story started picking up. We had many great discussions about character issues in this book. If I may also recommend... Carry On Mr. Bowditch and Rifles for Watie (Civil War) are terrific books for boys, although my dd loved them, too.

 

Jennifer

[LNC]

We listened to the audiotapes last year while following along in the book for my 4th and 2nd graders. We had discussion using the online study guides available. I can't believe how much they loved that book, and retained many of the themes. When they visited grandparents, they discussed JT at length book one evening with their aunts who loved it in high school (young aunties!). I'll have them re read it on their own for the logic stage - but they loved it so much they both want their own hardcovers!

[teacalm]

Ds13 read this as the first book on his Laurel Tree Online Intro. to Literature. I also read it on my own and we both liked it. His sisters hear us talking about it since ds had to write a character analysis report on one of the character, and both wants to read it now. I may just get the audio for them to listen to in their mp3s.

 

I enjoyed it and so did ds and this is our first time to read the book.

[Moni]

Now I recall this book.

 

I would say inconsequential if omitted.

 

 

:seeya:

Edited September 21, 2009 by Moni

[mollies73]

I'm in the minority here, but I tried to read it last year to my 4th and 5th graders. They both kept saying, "Now what are they talking about?" and "I don't get it." My mind kept wandering while I read it because I thought it was very dry. We gave up about 3/4 of the way through. It took us about a month to get this far because we had to stop every other page to try to rephrase and talk about what the author was saying. If I've ever met a book I couldn't stand and couldn't get through, it's this one. There are so many books out there about this time in history, I'd pick another.

[elizabeth]

http://www.amazon.com/Keeping-Room-Novel-Anna-Myers/dp/0141304685/ref=cm_lmf_tit_20_rlrsrs0 The Keeping Room excellent regarding some of the reasons for the Revolution.

Also Look at Sarah Bishop by Scott O Dell really superb.

I like anything for American history by Ann Rinaldi

I also absolutely love all the historical fiction by the Collier family link follows

http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=5394

I have found that many of the books suggested for American history tend to be watered down, trite , and full of unexamined presumptions about the period. We used all of these suggested and had wonderful discussions as the issues are not presented as black/white but rather in a more realistic pov that reflects the complexity of events and people. Tremain is vastly overrated.

[trisharog]

I read it for the first time this summer and cant wait for my son to read it in a few months. I thought it not only brought the American Revolution to life there were fabulous values lessons in it.

 

Trisha

[Vida Winter]

It is a wonderful book, not to be missed. I think it works best about 5th grade, as a read-aloud. Some parts were so good my dd made me read them over and over again.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[Testimony]

I hate to say skip a classic. I never read it as a child. I did read it to my sons two years ago. They both said that they remembered it.

 

The struggle that I have with this book is there are two stories going on in this book. One story is about his life from a blacksmith, like Paul Revere, to a carrier for the Sons of Liberty. Then there is the entire life as a carrier and the Sons of Liberty. I would have preferred if the story started from his work at the printshop. I like that section because it focuses on the Revolution.

 

I must admit it is a great book to read. I felt like I was standing next to the fathers of the American Revolution. I did not know about Dr. Warren and Billy Dawes until Johnny Tremain. So, I would say to read it. If you skip it, no harm either.

 

Blessings in your homeschooling journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[PeterPan]

Oh, see the plot and the twists and how the parallel lines come together is what intrigued me. That's what makes it good. And if your dc have trouble understanding it, get the audio! The audio makes it all clear, because the reader uses voices. ;)

[motherdear]

the audio book. You can listen any time -- waiting for supper, in the car etc.

[nata]

I second the audio book idea!! That's how we did it and it was one of our favorites of the whole year!!

 

Renata in CT

[pattimiller747]

I think we will just listen to it on CD in the car on a road trip rather than reading this one.

[Sandy in Indy]

My seventh grade LA teacher read this to my class....she was enthusiastic and had a great sense of suspense. I can remember her finishing chapters and us begging for her to read another. It's the ONLY book I remember a teacher reading.

 

I read it to my oldest ds and a friend a few years ago. They really enjoyed it. Personally, I think it's a wonderful book for kids. I'll be reading it to my youngest ds in a couple of years.

[HappyGrace]

I had decided to skip it last year and just watch the Disney movie instead. Dd (age 8 at the time) LOVED the movie so much, she then wanted to read the book on her own! She has watched the movie several times now too. At least watch the movie-it's really good!

[Ali in OR]

We just loved this book last year--definitely one of the highlights of the year for us. My then 5-yo was very into the young girls and how they behaved--that kept her interest. I just loved the themes and got a little teary-eyed at "so that a man can stand up" and tried to explain to my girls what that meant and what they were fighting for.

 

I did not like the Disney movie. They remove the a lot of the meaning of the price paid for freedom by changing what happens to a major character.

[storkyswan]

We did it as a read-aloud last year, and my girls really liked it. But, if you hate the book, that might come through in some way. ;)

 

Skip it if it gives you negative feelings.

:iagree:

[A.J. at J.A.]

:iagree:

 

We read it aloud last year and all of my boys enjoyed it.

 

We read it aloud and my boys loved it too. 8yr and 10yr. It is now a beloved book by both...I certainly wouldn't pass, I would at least give it a try as a read aloud. We got really attached to the characters.

 

Blessings,

Angela

[AngieW in Texas]

We read Johnnie Tremain when my oldest was in 3rd grade, but it was an awful slog. This time we watched the movie instead.

[Mothersweets]

We read the book one year, listened to the audio another year (it was ok-the reader reads s-l-o-w-l-y), and watched the movie another year.

 

The movie is HORRIBLE!! My kids actually begged me to turn it off.

 

Good book - BAAADDD movie. Disney should be ashamed.

[Annie Laurie]

I also absolutely love all the historical fiction by the Collier family link follows

http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=5394

 

I was assigned My Brother Sam is Dead in 5th grade and it made a huge impact on me. I remembered the title 20 years later when my son was studying the American Revolution and had him read it too.

 

But I also love Johnny Tremain and don't find it trite at all. This thread is already long, but I felt like responding anyway because I didn't know there were people who didn't like it! I read this to my son and we both enjoyed it immensely.

[Melissa in CA]

I'm in the minority here, but I tried to read it last year to my 4th and 5th graders. They both kept saying, "Now what are they talking about?" and "I don't get it." My mind kept wandering while I read it because I thought it was very dry. We gave up about 3/4 of the way through. It took us about a month to get this far because we had to stop every other page to try to rephrase and talk about what the author was saying. If I've ever met a book I couldn't stand and couldn't get through, it's this one. There are so many books out there about this time in history, I'd pick another.

 

Gosh, I'm so glad you said this!! This was our experience as well when I read this to my then 4th grade son. It seemed so dull?? After all the wonderful reviews of the book I thought we too would love it. I was somewhat shocked that we did not. We DID finish it though, and stayed on schedule with it (SL) but it surely wasn't a favorite of ours. :confused:

[littlebug42]

I was assigned My Brother Sam is Dead in 5th grade and it made a huge impact on me. I remembered the title 20 years later when my son was studying the American Revolution and had him read it too.

.

 

I have actually never read Johnny Tremain but I remember reading My Brother Sam is Dead in 7th grade. It made more of an impact than most books I read in school, even in high school. It will be required reading for my daughters when they get older.