History explodes in this activity guide spanning the turmoil preceding secession, the first shots fired at Fort Sumter, the fierce battles on land and sea, and finally the Confederate surrender at Appomattox. Making butternut dye for a Rebel uniform, learning drills and signals with flags, decoding wigwag, baking hardtack, reenacting battles, and making a medicine kit bring this pivotal period in our nation’s history to life. Fascinating sidebars tell of slaves escaping on the Underground Railroad, the adventures of nine-year-old drummer boy Johnny Clem, animal mascots who traveled with the troops, and friendships between enemies. The resource section includes short biographies of important figures from both sides of the war, listings of Civil War sites across the country, pertinent websites, glossary, and an index.

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The other key part of this book are the 21 activities that are scattered throughout its pages and provide a wide variety of experiences to give young readers in or out of class. Some of the activities are fairly detailed, such as making a North Star Safe Quilt or your own soldier's uniform, and acting out the battle of Antietam (really, but you need 30 kids). Others are fairly simple, like making a coffee can drum and having a Rebel yell contest. Several of the activities are specific to the fighting of the war, such as creating a code, signaling with a wigwag, measuring the depth of a pond or river, building a lean-to- shelter, and making battlefield bandages. A few of the exercises are duplications of things people would have actually done during the war, such as making berry ink, a housewife sewing kit, homemade butternut dye, and hardtack. Teachers would not be expected to use even half of these exercises, but those teaching a unit on the Civil War can certainly find a couple of choice activities to use with their students. The same is true for all of the other books on history and the arts with 21 activities that you can find.

29 of 32 found the following review helpful:

Great hands on activitiesApr 14, 2000

We are using this book for a homeschool unit on the Civil War with eight-year-old twins. The chapters give them an interesting overview of this history of the war, but the hands on activities have really made them excited about what they are learning. We have made hardtack (recipe included in the book), facsimile uniforms, lean-tos, and quilts. Most of the activities can easily be accomplished by one or two kids, but some are more appropriate for an entire classroom. The graphics and photographs are exceptional. I am eager to use other books by Chicago Review Press to supplement our study.

21 of 24 found the following review helpful:

OUTSTANDING!Jul 28, 2000
By bert1761
After buying Ms. Herbert's gorgeous "Leonardo da Vinci for Kids," I bought this book. Notwithstanding my high expectations for this book, I was not in the least bit disappointed. Ms. Herbert has again written an interesting and informative book with entertaining activities that enhance and reinforce the educational value of the book. As the previous reviewer noted, a small number of the activities in this book really need groups of children to make them effective, but overall the book can be recommended for all.

An interesting aside -- adults who enjoy this book should check out the author's first (and adult) book, which was written under the name Janis Martinson. In "The World Don't Owe Me Nothing: The Life and Times of Delta Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards," the author took the exact words of Mr. Edwards and constructed an fascinating autobiography that is also quite an interesting history lesson.

7 of 7 found the following review helpful:

Civil War made real for kids in special educationSep 12, 2005
By K. Leeburg
I recently used this book with my students who have both learning disabilities and emotional disturbances. I used it in conjuction with the state mandated US History book. I found the extra information I was able to inteject into my lectures to be interesting. My students enjoyed the extra tidbits. They gathered around the book to look at the 9 year-old soldier. They wrote letters as if they were soldiers with the ink they made from the book's recipe. I think it helped to enrich the Civil War lessons I had planned. I recommend this book to other teachers. With a little tweaking, I think that the activities are appropriate for students in elementary school as well as in high school.

17 of 22 found the following review helpful:

BOUND TO IGNITE A FEW SPARKSMar 05, 2001
By ALLISTAIR McCOY
This is a great book my kids love ( maybe I should give it 5 stars just for that alone ). Lots of fun things to do - we've yet to try the butternut dyeing but as soon as their mum goes to work..... ??? This is just the book to get fathers banned from the kitchen, and probably the whole house as there's so many fun activities to rekindle the childhood we forgot we didn't have ? Hell, just buy it, better value than a family meal at McD's, and the starving would give a real War experience beyond the scope of this fine book.

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