Here’s a fun book and movie pairing for this month of July. Even though it’s summer, I still like to homeschool with Morning Basket. It’s basically where I read aloud to my son books to share with him what is good, true, and beautiful. We read books about history, Shakespeare, math, science, art, and the gospel. (You can go here to learn more about it.) We do a shorter MB time than we do the rest of the year, and then math from Mathusee, for our homeschooling on these summer mornings.

Just this morning we finished The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence after watching National Treasure. It’s a fun picture book that tells the history of the Declaration of Independence. National Treasure came out a long time ago, so you’ve probably already seen it. In case you haven’t, here’s a synopsis. Skip and go to the next paragraph if you know about it. It’s a fun adventure movie about a guy who gets a seed planted in his mind by his grandfather that the Declaration of Independence has a map on the back that leads to secret treasure. He grows up to be a history buff and gets caught in another guy’s evil plan to find the treasure. It’s a great movie that shows early American history sites in the context of an intense story involving a race. You see Washington D.C., with some of the famous things there like the Washington Monument, the Library of Congress, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Mall, and the National Archives building. Then you also get to see things in Boston, like the Old North Church, and in Philadelphia, namely Independence Hall, and the Liberty Bell.

After each of my 7 children finished the Key of Liberty class by LEMI, they got to watch the movie. It’s one of the few movies I’ve seen over and over. It’s such a fun story! It can generate a lot of questions for the curious mind, like, who are the Knights of Templar, who are the Freemasons, why did Ben Franklin write as Silence Dogood, and is there really a national treasure?

We rewatched it the other night for our Family Home Evening activity since we just celebrated Independence Day last week. (You can go here to see about that.) Usually we watch episode two of the John Adams HBO series that shows the drafting of the Declaration, but I decided with my nephew visiting us it would be more fun to watch NT and then do John Adams this Saturday or Sunday. It pairs perfectly with the book.

After watching National Treasure, it’s easy to think that the famous document has been sitting under glass for hundreds of years. When you read the above book you will learn the real history of what the picture book calls “The One and Only.” The marvelous piece of paper has only been under glass, in the National Archives building, since December 13, 1952. It was interesting to read about how many times the original Declaration of Independence changed hands before that. Since its birth in 1776, it hasn’t always been treated carefully. Most people knew to roll it up, and not fold it, but it was folded sometimes, leaving creases. It also had some glue and Scotch tape on it. Some experts fixed all those problems before its final resting place at the National Archives building. The document has been carried by horseback, wagon, carriage, boat, handcart, train, armed truck and Marine Corps tank through the centuries.

I love that the book says, “No effort was too much to keep the Declaration of Independence safe. It declares the birth of a new nation. It celebrates the value and dignity of every human being. Though it doesn’t declare that all people are created equal in ability, talent, or brains, it does declare that all people are created equal in their basic rights, including ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ “

Here’s more about the One and Only’s history.