I love Independence Day! I want the feeling of the day to linger longer than a day, just like Christmas. So as I do at Christmas time I get picture books to read aloud that pertain to the holiday to stretch out that lovely holiday feeling.The above pictured book is Letters of Freedom: The American Revolution. It is a delightful interactive book for kids that I found at our public library. Each double page spread is full of pictures about the Revolution.

What makes it really fun for my 6 and 7 year olds is that each spread has an envelope/pocket with a letter folded inside to read. The letters come from fictional characters who write to relatives or friends about the battle going on around them. They are fictional but describe what life was probably like back then. If I were basing a homeschool lesson on this for older love of learning children I would encourage them to pick one of the battles described in the book and ask them to pretend to be a soldier, writing a letter home to family.  But as I am taking a summer break from structured homeschool lessons, we are just simply reading the book, one or two double page spreads a night, and talking about it.

This is a splendid story about a brother and sister who were involved in a spy ring during the Revolutionary War. It describes a secret code involving laundry that was used to convey information about what kind of British ships were in the Philadelphia harbor.

Little Town on the Prairie is not set in the time of the American Revolution, but it has a chapter on the Ingalls family celebrating Independence Day in their new town. After hearing a recitation of the Declaration of Independence, then singing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” Laura made this connection:

Suddenly [Laura:] had a completely new thought. The Declaration and the song came together in her mind and she thought: God is America’s king. Americans won’t obey any king on earth. Americans are free. That means they have to obey their own consciences. . . . Her whole mind seemed to be lighted up by that thought. This is what it means to be free. It means, you have to be good. “Our father’s God, author of liberty–” The laws of Nature and of Nature’s God endow you with a right to life and liberty. Then you have to keep the laws of God, for God’s law is the only thing that gives you the right to be free.

So that chapter, (Chapter 8) is an especially meaningful read aloud for the summer holiday. It reminds me of the Book of Mormon where it says that the promised land, which we believe to be north America, is destined to only have Jesus Christ as its king.

We read this book on the drive down to the festivities yesterday:

Here are a few more I got from the library that we are going to read over the next week or two: 

This one’s about the women involved with the Revolutionary War. We shall see if it passes my test of being positive about women without adding in a modern feminist viewpoint. 

Then here are two more by the same author about little-known stories about the War. They tell the story of Benjamin Tallmadge. The first one is about his involvement with the Battle of Long Island, the next one is about his discovery of a spy ring.

Enjoy! If you know of any more titles please share below.