The Fab Four
John, Paul, George & Ben, that is.
I saw this book last week in Barnes and Noble and almost bought it. The illustrations were fantastic and the book jacket made me laugh out loud - how often does that happen with a kid’s book?
But I didn’t.
So imagine how ecstatic I was when I found out that my friend Madeline bought it for my daughter, Katie…
It’s so brilliant.
But then what did you expect from Lane Smith, who has illustrated, among other works, James and the Giant Peach and The Stinky Cheese Man? The illustrations are just - gosh. I can’t even explain. The whole book isn’t just drawn beautifully, it’s put together in a stunning manner - from the typeface to the color palette to the drawings. Amazing.
And the text? I’m not sure that the little ones (the jacket says from age 5 on) will get the humor evident from page to page, but that’s why I love it. It works in the same way that Monsters, Inc., or Cars does - there’s humor for the kids and then a more sophisticated humor for the parents. That’s what I love in a kid’s book.
It also has perspective. It is the abbreviated, down to earth stories of John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin and Tom Jefferson. Historical, entertaining, smart, funny. I’m a history major - and I learned something.
The jacket says “This is the story of five little lads before they become five really big Founding Fathers.” But… I thought that only four were mentioned in the title? That’s because the fifth - Tom (as in Jefferson) - was “annoying independent and hardly ever around.”
A truly great book, destined to be a classic. Buy it.
history, John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Lane Smith
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