The Boston Tea Party - Hardcover

Gr. 3^-6. This picture book surveys the background history leading up to the Boston Tea Party. Beginning with the Seven Years War (1756^-63), which put England in debt and led to new taxes on its colonies, Kroll tells of the decisions of Parliament and the reactions of the colonists, focusing on the situation in Boston. He ends with the famous Tea Party, though an afterword summarizes the events that followed. Although Kroll does a creditable job of summarizing history, the text reads more like a chapter from a history book than a picture-book text. The lack of a central character or a series of dramatic incidents must have made the book difficult to illustrate. One spread, for example, shows a crowd of faceless people surrounding the Liberty Tree at a distance and watching for tea agents, who never show up. The impressionistic paintings are quite handsome on their own, but they generally keep readers at a distance from the action, even when some sort of action is taking place. Still, middle-grade children researching the period may be glad to find an illustrated book that provides reliable information on the subject. Chronology. Carolyn Phelan