A Revolutionary approach

There's not much to say about the books I picked for colonial US history. Between the holidays and the ton of other library books we accumulated, those sort of got lost in the shuffle. I think six-year-old S read one history book, once.

Plus, there was another problem. The books I picked weren't funny. And for a boy who thrives on Calvin and Hobbes and the word "poop," funny is everything.

Well, almost everything. There's also spying. For this next period, covering the Revolutionary War, we've got one early reader about espionage: Buttons for General Washington, by Peter and Connie Roop, illustrated by Peter E. Hanson.

But for everything else I've selected, my estimated potential for laughs -- based on story summaries, cover illustrations, and reviews -- was a huge consideration this time around, and probably will be for some time. The last thing I want is for S to get the idea that history is dull or uninteresting or intimidating. I'll hit him with the funny stuff this time around, and get to Johnny Tremain's ruined hand in another year or two.

Here's what else we'll (hopefully) be reading:

• Joining the Boston Tea Party, by Diane Stanley, illustrated by Holly Berry (Let's hope that the Time-Traveling Twins go over just as well as the first time around)
• The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence, by Judith St. George, illustrated by Will Hillenbrand
• Saving the Liberty Bell, by Megan McDonald, illustrated by Marsha Gray Carrington (Thanks to Chicken Spaghetti for recommending this one, which has already proven a hit)
• And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?, by Jean Fritz, illustrated by Margot Tomes
• George Washington's Teeth, by Deborah Chandra and Madeleine Comora, illustrated by Brock Cole

Know of another historically sound, guffaw-inducing picture book or early reader covering the Revolutionary period? Lay it on me.