The Lady Hermes

I know that summer vacation is here, or nearly here, but I suspect many teachers are planning their fall curriculum.  So here are a couple of useful gifts.

If you click on the section of my web site called TEACHERS you’ll be taken to a pair of curriculum guides for BIG GEORGE and WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT GASOLINE?  I’m very pleased with these guides.  They’re professional, useful, and even fun. (I particularly like the Revolutionary War uniform coloring pages for BIG GEORGE).  You can download and print as many copies as you need from the page.  I think you’ll find that they’ll help you to make good use of these two books I’m very proud of.

Speaking of proud:  When I returned from China I found a letter to me from the International Reading Association that BIG GEORGE was selected for the 2010 Teachers Choice booklist.  It's a short list and they're distributing a bookmark.  You can find more information on www.reading.org under "Resources" then "Booklists."  The list will also appear in the November issue of THE READING TEACHER.

It's strange that two biographies I wrote on two people who are American founding fathers, each in his own way, would appear in the same year, same month, by the same publisher. 

BIG GEORGE was to be published in fall of 2008 by Harcourt.  OPEN THE DOOR TO LIBERTY was to be published in January 2009, in time for Black History Month.  But because of the bizarre condition lately of book publishing Harcourt ended up being acquired by Houghton and the two became one.  I had a long history with Harcourt, and none with Houghton.

Everyone knows who George Washington is, but few people recognize the name of Toussaint L’Ouverture, the father of his country. There were three great revolutions in the 18th century, and each one impacted world history. The American Revolution, The French Revolution, and the Haitian Revolution.