This book comes alive when you open it and are allowed to step back in time with the wonderful backbeat of Longfellow's great American poem about the "the British are coming", and awakening of the people from Boston to Concord by Paul Revere. This is the beginning of America! Right before the "shot heard round the world" folks. A poem that shaped America not only in the eyes of Americans, but the rest of the world. Longfellow's poetry was simple genius. The art of Christopher Bing is outstanding. This exceptional book has the kind of creativity I would like to see more of in Children's Literature. A unique book that can be found on adult bookshelves as well.

You know this book is special as soon as you touch it. You realize that the look of leather on the cover is just that, a look. You flip through the pages and find a scrapbook, complete with worn and mildewed pages, enhanced with token mementos that look so three-dimensional you must trace them with a tentative finger. A letter from Thomas Gage to Lieutenant Colonel Smith is tucked inside the front cover; the Deposition of Paul Revere is stuck in the back. We find a map of the British plan and a corresponding map of the Middlesex Alarm, including Revere's actual route. This is *not* just a casual recitation of the classic poem. The words proceed on faded sheets while Bing's illustrations hint at period woodcuts. No explanations are necessary within the text. Notes are saved for the end, and they reveal the minor inaccuracies in the Longfellow version (one of the biggest being that Paul Revere was captured outside of Lexington and that his companion Dr. Samuel Prescott was the one who made it all the way to Concord). A gift for any age ... especially for those of us who can chime off part of the rhyme but forget the whole story.

Despite the "age" recommendation, I purchased this book for my four-year-old son. We've been reading it outloud for almost a year. He absolutely loves it! It's so hard to find books for children with classic authors' words presented, without apology, in their original form. And the drawings and details in this book are outstanding. My son loves to open and refold the reproductions of letter and newspaper in the front and back, and he loves to trace Paul Revere's ride on the map with his finger. A beautiful book, with much to teach any reader, of any age. This book should be declared a national treasure.

This is a very classy, high quality, superbly rendered version of a great story--terrific for little kids, but attractive for adults also.

I've been searching for a good edition of this book for years. I remember constantly checking it out of my library when I was younger and loving the poem. This is one book I'm proud to have in my own growing library and I know one day, my daughter will love reading it as well.

The illustrations that Christopher Bing did for the book are FANTASTIC and so are the maps and the actual inserts of the letter Paul Revere delivered and his deposition. I feel like I own a wonderful piece of history!