This story is about a boy who joined the army because Abraham Lincoln asked him to so he can bring spirit to the solders. So he did and became a drummer boy. He seen things he thought a boy should never see. This is a good book for everyone. I think its a good history and lurning book.This is a magical, historical, and colorful book. So I think everyone should read it if they have the chance.Bye......

I am a fifth grade teacher who bought this picture book to incorporate into my Civil War studies. It is my favorite picture book. It has such a tremendous impact on the reader with such an economy of words that it truly drives home the image we have been using all year of words in a story being like a glass of water and food coloring: each strong word is a drop of food coloring making the liquid darker. Each weak, unnecessary word is water, making the liquid lighter. We want our stories to be bright red (or yellow, or blue, or green). This book is the closest thing to pure, undiluted red as any we've come across. The students are astonished by the power and strength of feeling that just a few words can convey.

They are equally mesmerized by the incredible imagery of the illustrations. In just 28 pages, the boy in the story changes from a fresh-faced innocent of 13 to a world-weary adult in a matter of months.

The language in the book makes it a perfect compliment to a study of metaphors and similes. He describes his attraction to Mr. Lincoln as "sometimes you take to a person, the way a horse snuffs up the smell of someone." And goes on to describe him as looking "so kind and sad, towering up into the sky like a black tree."

Like many other books with war as the theme, Drummer Boy personalizes death due to combat. However, unlike most other books, it does so in a mere 40 words that leave the most powerfully gripping image I have yet to read in a children's book. Instead of describing death and destruction in gory detail, the passage concentrates on describing the dying soldier's hand clasped in the protagonist's until he dies. Not once was blood, bullets, or wounds mentioned...

"One near me cried for his mother. I held his hand until he died, and I always feel his fingers on mine, how hot and dry they were, how they grabbed mine and crushed them until his eyes stopped seeing."

This is a book that seems to speak directly to the children's souls. It seems to touch something in them, for when the story is over there is an almost reverent silence in the room and you can almost feel them coming back from the farthest regions of their imaginations...changed by the sights and sounds of war.

I love to teach history and this book is a winner. I am always amazed how children focus on the glory of war, not the reality. This book gently brings home the reality. In the illustrations the child, drummer boy ages before the eyes of the reader. As a Civil War survivor he says what many other veterans of more recent wars have shared with me of their experiences.

I bought this book without taking a good look at the illustrations. I wish I'd peered closer. As a fan of antique wooden dolls, I was excited to find a children's story that features wooden dollhouse dolls. However, the illustrations are generic, so that they could be plastic dolls or china dolls and the reader would never tell the difference. I prefer the realism given to "the Doll's House" by Rumer Godden, where the wooden doll *looks* like a wooden doll. This has cute poetry, but I would have prefered more realism in the illustrations.

As a fourth grade teacher, I have found this book to be an excellent assest to my classroom library. Strong settting and character development allows this story to be a valuable tool in teaching the basics parts of a good story. My students and I read it over and over!

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I had heard it was really great and it sounded like it wa really well told, if a little complex. But still, when I got it, I found the first part awful. It was just boring. I guess it just wasn't like the other books I'd read in the series. It was more indian than american. It got better once there was some excitment, after Sarah Nita's family was taken by the soldiers, but It still had an element of boredem in it. I really wouldn't reccomend buying it, but if u can get it off a friend to borrow, i guess it's worth reading.

This book was real page turner I loved it I am a huge fan of the Dear america series and this was one of the best booksI have read in the series. It really shows the true courage of Sara Nita and her sister and how true her love was for her family. and how she is not a quiter. Ann warren turner did a great job on this book the charcters are so real.atahere is never a dull moment in this book there is always one suspencfull event after another This is a must read book. and I also recemend The Winter Of Red Snow it is a great book to.

This book was about a thirteen-year-old Navajo Indian girl on the Long Walk in 1863-1864. It showed how terrible the Native Americans were treated back then, even more than My Heart is on the Ground, another wonderful Dear America book. I highly reccomend reading this.

This book really captures the feeling of the times when pioneers thought moving westward would make them a profit. It helps the reader understand the trials and tribulations of moving westward. The killing of a colt to the grasshopper invasion real grips the reader. The charactes being approximately the age of a fifth or sixth grader really helps youngsters who read this book to make a personal connection. It also helps the reader understand the role of the father, mother, and children during the late 1800s. Furthermore, it shows them although slavery has ended, how many still felt the African American still had his place. From crossing the mighty Mississippi River, to going to the Dakota Terriotory, this book truly captures the time and events of an interesting period in American history.

Sam's father decides to take the family to Dakota Terrotory for a new life.But Sam hates the idea of leaving his friends,grandparents for a new life.The hard journey to Dakota Terrotory doesn't compare to the surprises that await Sam and his family.

This is a great book for both kids and adults. Ehlert is known as a children's book illustrator, and this title takes her talents to the next level. The illustrations contain cleverly designed angels which the reader must find. They range in difficulty from VERY easy and obvious to VERY difficult. There are some that I still can't find! The illustrations are good enough to frame. Ehlert arranges everyday items (or "finds" the arrangement in nature) to resemble an angel. Each one is unique. After going through the book and finding the angels, it is possible to enhance the experience with a child by going back and creating stories for each one. Each page also contains a few lines by Turner which aid in finding the angel. However, the written lines are not as good as the pictures. The words just don't flow. That is the only reason this book has 4 rather than 5 stars. The book reminds me of the _I SPY_ series, or _Where's Waldo?_. In addition to being entertaining, this book stimulates the brain. There is a short section in the back with a few informational lines about each picture, but you can't use them to cheat; they don't give away the hiding spots. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be giving away several as gifts this holiday season.

During the time of the Revolutionary War, Katie's family were loyalists and needed to hide when the Rebels come into their house to raid it. Katie hides in a trunk away from her family because she didn't want to leave the house. She is spotted by a Rebel who is their neighbor. Katie used to be best friends with his daughter, but now they are no longer allowed to see each other because their families disagree on England's rule over the Colonies. Katie is unsure what will happen now that she's been spotted. This book helps my seventh grade students (or any reader), clarify who are the Tories, Rebels, Loyalists, Yankees, Redcoats and Patriots. The book is based on a true story of one of the author's ancestors.

In muted tones and spare text illustrator Dennis Nolan and author Ann Turner together create a story of one family's westward journey. "There's gold in California and free land, A man can't let that go by... Once Pa had an idea, no one could stop him", "Ma tightened her lips, dug a red flower... 'where I go, this flower goes too.' Pa had nothing to say to that". And so begins a journey of peril where Red Flower becomes more than a geranium, it becomes a symbol of survival. The soft sepia tones are punctuated by the bright red geranium flowers emphasizing the importance of Red Flower. This book leaves with you a clearer idea of how scary it would have been to be a pioneer.

The sing song prose that Ms. Turner uses is hard for a child to understand or appreciate. She trys hard to give the reader a sense of life as a shaker and she does. Maybe thats why there are no shakers left. Mr. Minor's pictures are somewhat flat and dry.

I enjoyed this book immensely. The illustrations alone are a wonderful lesson in the many things that the Shaker community contibuted to our country. Fortunately, many of these things are still admired and valued today.

I was hoping this book of love poems might be a good one for my young adult (teen) daughter. She wasn't convinced, and neither am I. Lines like 'there was laughter, like ripples around a stone.' And 'I am tasting your mouth - not food. I am drinking your eyes - not wine.' .....seem prosaic to say the least, and not, somehow, what young adults want to read. And in the middle of meeting and falling in love, there is an accident. All of a sudden he's distant. Why? Well we never learn why. It's kind of just tucked in the middle and left there. Some of the poems toward the end are better. 'August' is something every girl can relate to. But many of the poems miss the mark

This story is about a wild undisciplined 18 year old GIRL who answers a want-a-bride ad from a rancher in Montana.This girl has an attitude problem with God on the first page and doesn't like men in general.She doesn't deserve what she GETS IN THE END.This book contains a few bad words and sex talk. I have read much better from this author. I hope this is not the case of " write what you know" .Dissappointed !