An American Patriot's Childhood

“The British are coming” is one of the most recognizable quotes in American history. It is the famous words uttered by Paul Revere that would soon be followed by the first battle of the American Revolutionary War. The American Revolutionary War is the beginning of the United States of America and without the warning by Paul Revere, life as we know it could have ceased to exist. This book doesn’t discuss the midnight ride that Revere embarked on, but rather explores Revere’s life leading up to being a Revolutionary War hero and American icon.

          Paul Revere and the Bellringers by Jonah Winter takes the reader back in time, to when the colonies were still part of the British empire, and to when Paul Revere was a boy. Revere didn’t live a life similar to those of his peers who attended school, but rather stayed home and worked in his father’s shop with silver and gold. While working, Revere would overhear his father and others discussing clubs and meetings, as well as issues between the British and the colonies. This led Revere to form a club with his peers that focused mainly around bell ringing and making music with the bells.

          The members of the club created their own rules and everyone in the club had to abide by them. “It also felt good to make a promise and keep it. It felt good to make music that the whole town could hear.” From this club, Revere learned of serving others by making sweet sounds, as well as how to be a part of something bigger than himself while following the rules necessary to make the club successful. Revere would use these lessons when he grew older and helped the colonies leave the tyrannical rule of the red coated British.  

          The lessons that Revere learned in his childhood are lessons that all children should have the opportunity to learn, such as serving others and recognizing that it is not about “me”, but about “we”. The illustrations in the book do a marvelous job at portraying life in the mid to late 1700s, which allows young children to see how much the way life is lived has changed over the years. The book also enlightens children on how the greatest country in the world was started and the courage of the founders to fight for what was right. One founding father named Patrick Henry, believed in the freedom of the colonies that he stated, “Give me liberty, or give me death.” I am sure if he were alive today, he would say, “Give me this book, or give me death.” Just another great reason to put this book on your list of must reads.