Our Liberty Bell Book

Here is the fascinating story of the Liberty Bell-from its humble beginnings to its prominence as a lasting symbol of American freedom. It first arrived in Philadelphia in 1752 and was used to gather crowds to come hear important news about the War of Independence. The engaging text and clever art combine to pay homage to one of our country's finest treasures.

Children's Literature

Who would have predicted, given its inauspicious beginnings (cracked when first rung, cast twice more because of its horrendous sound), that the bell ordered to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Pennsylvania's Charter of Privileges would become one of America's most recognizable symbols? Magaziner details, often with understated humor, its use to alert citizens of news, its being hidden in a church during the Revolutionary War, its being a star attraction in the 1876 Centennial Exposition, its travels around the United States, and its image's use to promote other important causes like abolition of slavery and women's rights. This short book (twenty-nine pages of text) is content heavy, with reasonably sophisticated vocabulary (forty-six words in the glossary). Magaziner, for many years a regional historical historian for the National Park Service, definitely knows whereof he speaks and weaves a lot of U.S. history into the text. O'Brien's black-and-white sketches (color on the cover) add humor more than information. On page twenty he morphs the eagle into the Liberty Bell. The book's slimness makes it appear to be for younger readers, but its design, with longs stretches of text on many pages and its vocabulary suggest it would be best used with students in grade four or above. Teachers or parents of younger students could easily pull snippets for use with younger children who are interested in the bell.