Unite or Die: How Thirteen States Became a Nation

by Jacqueline Jules, Jef Czekaj (Illustrator)

Overview

Learn the history of the young United States and how the original thirteen colonies wrote the Constitution in this humorous introduction to American history told through a classroom play.


Readers will follow the children of Forest Lake Elementary School as they trod the boards in a dramatic reenactment of the writing of the United States Constitution. After the Revolution, the United States was anything but united. The states acted like thirteen separate countries, with their own governments, laws, and currencies. It took bravery, smarts, and a lot of compromises to create a workable system of government under the new constitution. 

Full of facts about our fledgling democracy, the call for a national government, and the Constitutional Convention, this book presents American history with personality, good humor, and energy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580891905
Publisher:	Charlesbridge
Publication date:	02/01/2009
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	1,040,060
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Jacqueline Jules is the author of several books for children, including ABRAHAM'S SEARCH FOR GOD (Kar-Ben) and THE ZIZ AND THE HANUKKAH MIRACLE (Kar-Ben). Her poetry has been featured in over sixty publications, including Cricket, Cicada, and The Christian Science Monitor. She lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Editorial Reviews

This presentation is written as if it were a school play about the 13 colonies becoming a nation. Told through colorful comic-book illustrations, it stars students dressed as states humorously explaining the path to the writing of the Constitution. The brief text is accompanied by speech balloons expressing the states’ multiple, often competing, views. Anecdotes such as Ben Franklin being a big talker, George Washington’s and Ben Franklin’s special chairs, and the secrecy of the meetings add interest and reveal the historical figures as being real people. Even then there were concerns about the press reporting on governmental procedures. The vividly colored spreads will hold the interest of even middle school students and would be useful to introduce how our form of government was created. Students will enjoy presenting this book as reader’s theater. Further information about the proceedings of the Continental Convention of 1787 is included in an afterword, and the notes section answers important questions not explained in the text. This is a great book to use along with Lane Smith’s John, Paul, George, and Ben.

—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Memorable for the contrast between the melodramatic title and Czekaj's funny cartoon scenes of popeyed children putting on a low-budget stage play, this account of our Constitutional Convention should leave even less attentive readers with some idea of what the resultant document is all about. The curtain rises on players in state-shaped costumes running around shouting "Hooray! Freedom!" In subsequent scenes they fall to squabbling ("I know what's best for me") under the weak Articles of Confederation, recognize the need for change and gather (all but Rhode Island, that is) in sweltering Philadelphia for long, secret negotiations-nearly failing to reach consensus until Connecticut proposes the Great Compromise over the nature of the two legislative houses. "Who will be the first to sign? George Washington, of course!" A lively way to kick off discussions of how the Constitution works and why it's still a living document, especially with readers too young to tackle Jean Fritz's Shh! We're Writing the Constitution (1987). (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews