Rescuing the Declaration of Independence: How We Almost Lost the Words That Built America by Anna Crowley Redding, Edwin Fotheringham
ISBN: 0062740326
Genres: Non-Fiction
Format: Picture Book Nonfiction
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Maine author, Anna Crowley Redding, brings to life the little known but true story about the lowly clerk who saved the Declaration of Independence from being destroyed by the British army in the War of 1812. As a clerk for the State Department, Stephen Pleasonton spent his days immersed in paperwork until the day his boss, then Secretary of State James Monroe, sent an urgent message that the British were on their way to destroy Washington, D.C. and he should “Remove the records.” If he had not succeeded, the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Articles of Confederation, and the Declaration of Independence would likely have been destroyed. Fotheringham’s drawings have the look of old-time editorial cartoons. This book would be a captivating readaloud for a U.S. Government unit or for homeschooled students as it brings history to life. (Chowder Rules! is another book by this author.)

Barb Rehmeyer, Liberty Library