The American Revolutionary War by Kate Moening is part of a Torque set of War Histories. This set is geared towards third grade through seventh grade, with full color pictures and a reading level of third grade. Each book is 24 pages and starts with a table of contents a short description of the war. This book includes not only a table of contents, but also headings, bolded words, glossary, index, and labeled photos.
My students in grade four and five really enjoy this series, especially the page 11 gives details about the musket used during the war. In each book you’ll find a timeline of the impact of the war on page 18-19 – this is done with eye-catching colorful symbols that definitely make you look toward the bottom of the page. I find the infographic on page 21 very useful, as it shows students fatalities and the impact of war with graphics that are easy to compare to one another.
This book also happens to have a box on page 10 that acknowledges the role that Native Americans and Black soldiers played within the war. I appreciated this, however would have wished for a bit more than four sentences – maybe instead highlighting a Native American or Black soldier.
This series also includes a page referring you to Factsurfer (factsurfer.com) for additional kid friendly web sources. I liked this website and feel like it would be a great place for your young researchers to find online sources, or broaden their knowledge base. At the website you type in the title of your book, click the picture of the book cover that pops up, and then are given three age appropriate sites to go to for more information.
I find these Torque Readers a go-to in my library because I know I can count on them for their eye-catching covers and photos, their quality, and their consistency in content and readability. My students enjoy these immensely and often check out more than one to compare different wars. If you need to update your books on wars, I recommend adding this book to your library collection.
